Remembering

Dr. David Sumner of Springfield was a renowned surgeon, academic and artist. One of his paintings, at right, depicts the Rue Dauphine, a well-known street in Paris, France. A beautiful Parisian streetscape, a sailboat race on the North Carolina coast, and a peaceful snowfall on frozen Lake Springfield: Those picturesque scenes and many more were […]

MARK ALEXANDER MACDONALD “isn’t easy being a man / all those lines we paint / to the endless amusement / of those who live between them” – from Mark’s poem “Lines” Mark visited Illinois the year the Mississippi flooded. As a participant in the 1993 World Free Fall Convention in Quincy, he took a Springfield […]

NORMA JEAN THOMPSON Spending a lifetime as a devoted wife, mother and grandmother is a small snapshot into why my mom is special to me. We shared a special bond. I would start thinking of her and the phone would ring and it would be her calling. I would call her and she would say, […]

WILLIAM C. SHEA Remember when the Nazis tried to take over the world? Mr. Shea was one of many who answered the call to prevent that from becoming a reality, as part of the D-day invasion. Remember when you needed gas in your car or the oil checked on your engine? Bill Shea was the […]

About the issue Our annual end-of-year obituary issue offers in-depth portraits and personal remembrances of just a few of the hundreds who have passed from the Springfield scene this year. There is no attempt to be comprehensive, or even representative; these are people who have come to the attention of our writers, and others who […]

VIVIAN EDNA MCGINNIS She fought like a girl but lost. My beautiful daughter, Vivian Edna (Raridon) McGinnis, was born June 26, 1959 to Richard and Evelyn (Bumgardner) Raridon of Middletown. She went to school at Middletown for two years, then attended Chester East Lincoln for seven years. Her parents moved to San Antonio, Texas, where […]

RICHARD ROGER “DICK” MORSE Dick Morse of Springfield was “green” before it was even a thing. The influential architect helped create a community of environmentally conscious designers and participated in the renovation of numerous historic buildings in Springfield, leaving a legacy of revitalization. Morse died on May 28, 2013, at age 69. Richard Roger Morse […]

KEITH LARKIN TAYLOR A host of prominent Illinois politicos attended the July 16 memorial service for Keith Taylor. Among them were Attorney General Lisa Madigan, former Attorney General Neil Hartigan, former Senate President Tom Hynes and his son, former Comptroller Dan Hynes. The younger Hynes gave a moving tribute to Taylor, who had squired Hynes […]

HENRY KRUG III Henry Krug III was unique in many ways, but the most remarkable thing about him was the number of lives he touched while living, by his own choice, the simplest life he could. Born to a modest family, he married his high school sweetheart. Henry served in Vietnam as a member of […]

Remembering Becky is an everyday thing. When someone made you laugh so much it hurt, you want to bring back that memory as much as possible. I heard of her passing and I had to wrap my brain around it for a very long time to make sure it was true. Becky could not be […]

Mary Lee Leahy fought for underdogs. Best known for representing state workers in a landmark Supreme Court decision that ended overt patronage in government, the Springfield attorney who succumbed to pancreatic cancer had plenty of uphill battles. Even outside the courtroom, Leahy remembered the little guy. Consider the Kentucky Derby parties she hosted at the […]

I am honoring my grandmother, Margaret E. VanGeison from Pawnee, who was born on Sept. 30, 1913, and passed away on Oct. 17, 2012. Margaret was 99 years young when she left this earth to be with her husband, Chester L. VanGeison. She was a strong woman who was kind, patient, caring, funny and loved […]