Remembering

I would like to celebrate the life of my mother, Irma Ridenour of Springfield. She was 88. Mom was a bookkeeper in Evansville, Ind., in the ’30s. She said that one of her accounts was Halliburton. (I guess they had oilwells in southern Indiana in the 1930s.) She told me once that she and some […]

No one has had a greater impact on the Springfield Fire Department than Pat Ward, say his friends and family. The former city commissioner was behind every major leap forward in the city’s fire protection services from 1975 to 1991, they say, and on top of it all, “he was just a really great guy.” […]

John was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, who served aboard the USS Otis, USS LaSalle and USS Bairoko. He attended seven reunions of the USS Bairoko. He received a replica of the ship’s bell, which hangs in our dining area. The children love to ring the bell. He was very proud to have served […]

Dr. Holland was born in a small town in West Virginia, the only child of his loving parents. He moved as a small boy to Kentucky and grew up on a tobacco farm. In 1955, he moved to Springfield and began quietly working to make our community a better place. Dr. Holland helped to create […]

On June 20 the community lost a valued colleague and friend. Joe Hennessy, exhibits design chief at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, shared his creativity and artistic talents with more than 4.2 million visitors since his arrival at the museum in 1989. His rich contributions to the arts extended beyond exhibition design to painting […]

This year, University of Illinois Springfield lost someone who has been with it from its inception. Denny Frueh was one of the first graduates of then Sangamon State University (Now U of I Springfield). He began his career as a rehabilitation counselor for the State of Illinois, before moving into an admissions counseling position for […]

About the issue In this last edition of the year, Illinois Times once again takes a loving look back at a few of the Springield-area characters who died during the past year. We say characters because each was unique, each had their own special spark, even four-year-old Joshua Lytle, who loved to sing “Frere Jacques” […]

I first met Pat Hauversburk of Springfield more than 12 years ago at the Illinois State Archives, where I spent my Saturday mornings researching my own family genealogy. Pat had the patience of a saint, but a funny quirky attitude that might not qualify her for sainthood. She took me under her wing. Over the […]

For years Albert Boyd floated from table to table laughing and joking as he greeted diners at Boyd’s Family Style Restaurant. After the first visit, customers quickly learned that Boyd’s warmth and humor were just as pleasing and satisfying as the smothered pork chops, fried chicken, collard greens and other soul food dishes served at […]

Mary Frances Lavin (affectionately known as Aunt Mary Fran) left an impression on thousands of young people in central Illinois over her 30-year teaching career. For 34 years she was a public school teacher at Fairview, Dubois, Washington and Lanphier schools. Then after retirement she substituted at Ursuline and Sacred Heart. Students who had Mary […]

“He was the whole package” is Dr. Marc Shelton’s description of cardiologist Dr. James Dove, founder of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants, who died Nov. 7 at age 71, one year to the day he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. “I’ve known one or two academicians who were as smart as Jim,” says Shelton. “But no one […]

When the radio is on, his familiar voice is absent. Ed Ruebling embodied all that was good about WQNA: Play lots of music and speak only as needed. It was an approach that harked back to his experience as a listener during the golden age of rock and roll. He would have been the first […]