February 2023

James Elliot “Jim” Gerald 77, of Ottawa, passed away Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at his home surrounded by his family.

A funeral ceremony will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, February 18, at Ottawa Funeral Home with Fr. Nicholas Wilson officiating. A visitation will be held from 12:00pm noon until the time of service on Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Jim was born October 20, 1945, in Mullins, South Carolina, to William Franklin and Georgianna (Brown) Gerrald. He married the love of his life, Pamela Beutler in 1967 at St. Patrick’s Catholic church in Ottawa. She passed away July 28, 1998.

Jim served his country in the United States Air Force. He worked for Advanced Thermal Corporation as a quality control supervisor at the surrounding power plants. He was an avid golfer and walker. He enjoyed spending his mornings either golfing with his friends, aka “The Dew Sweepers,” or going for walks around Ottawa. Jim loved to travel, especially to Myrtle Beach to see his family. He had an ear for music and could always be found on the dance floor. Jim was a beloved “Papa” and treasured time spent with his children and grandchildren. He particularly loved swimming and eating family meals together. He was a member of Senica’s Oak Ridge Golf Course and St. Francis Catholic Church.

He is survived by his daughter, Jamie (Edward) Terry; his granddaughters, Sydney (Christian Santoy) Strobel and Savannah (Eddie Hettel) Strobel; his brother, Donald (Sue) Gerrald; his sister, Frankie Ellis; his special friend, Tess Burke; as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 31 years, Pamela; his son, Aric Gerald; and his sisters, Jean Stevens, Audrey Barto, Margie McCaw, and Georgia Mildice.

Pallbearers will be Bob Thrush, Jerry DeBernardi, Rod Rosencrans, Ed Terry, Christian Santoy, Eddie Hettel and honorary Pallbearer Carl LeBeau.

Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Jim has been laid to rest in the Garden of Psalms at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Joan D. Jobst, 75, of Ottawa, passed away Friday, February 10, 2023 at her home surrounded by her family.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30am on Saturday, February 18, at St. Francis of Assisi Church, with Fr. Ronald Margherio officiating. Visitation will be Friday, February 17 from 4:00 until 7:00 pm at Ottawa Funeral Home. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park.

Joan was born March 25, 1947, in Bozeman, Mt, to James and Margaret (Cooper) Downs. She married Michael Jobst on August 3, 1968 at Star of the Sea Church in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Joan was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and loved everything around water. She enjoyed body surfing and was the YMCA swimming instructor for over 30 years. She was a teacher at Marquette and St. Bede Academy for 25 years each and was also the principal at Marquette for 10 years. She was an amazing teacher and never missed one of her student’s games. She rarely missed a football, basketball, softball, or baseball game. She not only did it for her students, but she also had a passion for high school sports. In her free time, she and Mike loved to travel especially to their favorite destination, Florence, Italy. She was a member of St. Frances Church, Ottawa Rotary, and Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

She is survived by her husband, Michael; her children, Jennifer (Andrew) Borkowski and James (Jennifer) Jobst; her grandchildren, Torey, Allison, Finley, Kallyn, and Breckyn; her great grandchildren, Jasper and Nora; and her siblings, Michelyn and Barbara Downs.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, James.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. Bede Academy.

Joan has been laid to rest in the Garden of the Last Supper in Oakwood Memorial Park.

Deborah Ann Hulse, 74, of Ottawa, passed away Sunday, February 12, 2023, at her home surrounded by her family.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at Seals-Campbell Funeral Home. Funeral services will follow at 12 p.m. with Fr. Nicholas Wilson officiating. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park in Ottawa.

She was born on January 19, 1949, in Ottawa, to Norman Isaac and Eleanor Marie (Becker) Hulse.

Debbie graduated from Marquette High School, Eastern Michigan University, and then Southern Illinois University with her degree in Mortuary Science. She worked with her family and went on to own and operate Hulse Funeral Home in Ottawa.

She is survived by her son, Brian (Amy) Jonassen of Ottawa; three grandchildren, Stephany Jonassen, Shayna (Elijah) Kleinau, and Christopher Dorsett; and five great-grandchildren, Paizee, Zoe, and Jordan Morrissey, and Avery and Kristopher Kleinau.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Debbie has been laid to rest in the Garden of Inspiration at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Bill Jones, 65, of Ottawa, passed away on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa with Rev. Duane Kaufman, officiating. Burial will be at Oakwood Memorial Park at a later date. A visitation will be 9 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday before the service.

Bill was born on November 17, 1957 in Ottawa to Don and Marion (Baxter) Stohr. He worked as a warehouse factory worker. Bill married Lisa Jacobson on July 1, 2005 in Ottawa. He was a member of many pool leagues and loved the outdoors and camping.

He is survived by his wife, Lisa Jones, of Ottawa; his three children, Robert Voiles, Bill Jones, both of Ottawa, Bridget (Allen) Randall, of Florida; two step-daughters, Amanda (Matt) Lambert, April (Ryan) McNanna, both of Leland; four grandchildren, Kyrie, Erin, Andrew, A.J.; two step-grandchildren, Matthew, Dereck; two siblings, Terri Jones, of Florida, and Julie (Duane) Haige, of Ottawa.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Marion Jones; a son, David Jones; two brothers, Scott and Terry Jones.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.

Bill has been laid to rest in the Garden of the Ten Commandments at Oakwood Memorial Park.

James “JD” Wiggs, 85, of Ottawa, passed away Monday, February 6, 2023 at Ottawa Pavilion.

Funeral Ceremony will be at 12:00pm, Saturday, February 11 at Ottawa Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 10:00 am until noon Saturday at Ottawa Funeral Home. Burial of cremated remains will be Monday at 10:00am at Oakwood Memorial Park.

James was born August 14, 1937, in Blackwell, OK, to Riley and Lucy (Spears) Wiggs. He married Anne Wilson on July 11, 1959 at St. Francis Church in Ottawa.

He worked for Caterpillar and Carus Chemical Company until his retirement. In his free time he loved to play cards and watch the Chicago Bears. He could be found every morning or afternoon drinking coffee with his friends. He had a great sense of humor and was constantly joking and pranking his friends and family. He also would spend as much time as he could with his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Anne Wiggs; his two daughters, Laurie (Dewayne) Cox and Julie Nevins; his grandchildren, Melissa (Matt) Gilbert, Nichole (James) Baxter, Brooke (Phil Makarewicz) Nevins, Ashley (Mike Halko) Nevins, and Alex (Matt Dutton) Nevins; and his great grandchildren, Kayleigh, Claire, Ben, Andrew, Abi, Noah, Blaire, Oakleigh, Clay, Nicoli, and Korbin.

James was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Bryan Wiggs; his grandson, Zachary Cox; his son in law, Roger Nevins; and his siblings.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. Francis Church or Pet Project.

James has been laid to rest in the Garden of Tranquility at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Dorothy Van Hoozer, 91, of Ottawa, passed away February 6, 2023 at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

Funeral Ceremony will be held on Friday, February 10, at 1:00pm at Ottawa Funeral Home, with Rev. Duane Kaufman officiating. Visitation will be from 11:00am until 1:00pm prior to the service Friday, at Ottawa Funeral Home. Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park.

Dorothy was born May 7, 1931, in Ottawa, IL, to Victor Valentine and May (Allbee) Van Hoozer.

Dorothy loved to cook and bake. In her younger days, she loved to get dressed up and go dancing with her sister and friends. She still enjoyed getting dolled up and just going out for a drive.

She is survived by her three children, Deborah (Kim) LeRette, Stephen (Paulina) Ulrich, and Diana Listenbee; five grandchildren, Tiffany, Nicole, Shauna, Alexis, and Samantha; fourteen great grandchildren; one great great granddaughter; and her brother, Don Van Hoozer.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents; her son, VJ Robinson; her grandsons, Phontane Ulrich, Tre-Von Thomas, and Jordan Baracani; and her siblings, Robert, Lawrence, Jerry, and Betty.

Memorials may be directed to family.

Dorothy has been laid to rest in the Garden of Inspiration at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Edward T. Heermann, 88, of Ottawa, passed away Sunday, January 29, 2023, in the home of his daughter in Marseilles.

Private family services will be held. Edward will be laid to rest at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Edward was born May 15, 1934, in Ottawa, Illinois, the son of Theodore and Julia (Shoudis) Heermann. He married Virginia B. Applebee on June 16, 1956, in Ottawa, and they had been married 58 years at the time of her death in 2014. Surviving are two daughters, Loretta (Joseph) Stenger of Yorkville and Linda (Greg) Gebhardt of Marseilles; his grandchildren, David and John Stenger, Greg Gebhardt, Tira Gouveia, Jessie Bailey, Louis Cotton, Emily Realy, Mackenzie and Jacob Davis and Hudson Osborne; many great-grandchildren; and his dear friend Sandy Just. He was preceded in death by his parents; two daughters Susan Heermann-Osborne and Margaret (Cotton) Davis; one granddaughter, Jennifer Gebhardt; and four brothers, Paul, William, George and James Heermann. Pallbearers and honorary pallbearers will be his grandchildren and also his great grandchildren Kiley and Davin Gebhardt, Bradyn and Cobey Pazur, and Dillen and Damon Bailey.

Born into a farming family, Edward learned early the value of honest, hard work. He worked briefly for LOF and welded at Barber-Greene before becoming a mechanic at Myer Bros. Implements for most of his working life. Until recently he did small engine repair work at Myer Equipment and Repair.

Edward attended Vincent and Grove schools as well as Marquette High School. He had many talents and interests including guitar, working on cars including a Chevy Coupe he worked on and raced with his brother-in-law at the Oswego Dragstrip, gardening, woodworking, arrowhead collecting, stained glass work and antiquing.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family.

Edward has been laid to rest at in the Garden of Psalms at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Kay Louise Meyers, 56 of Streator passed away Wednesday morning (February 1, 2023) at Heritage Health, Streator.

Kay was born on August 10, 1966, in Streator to Albert Randall and Shirley (Stehl) Meyers.

She is survived by a sister Yvonne Meyers of Streator, brothers Sam (Rosie) Meyers of Indianapolis, IN and Paul (Jacqleene Meyers of Minonk, nieces and nephews; Janette Marie, Lynette Washington, Buddy (Maya) Ahlstrom, Luke (Haley) Meyers, Rebekah Meyers, Hannah (Brad) Kress, Leah (Bobby) Anderson and Abigail Meyers.

Kay is preceded in death by her parents and a nephew Philip Meyers.

Kay attended Streator grade schools and graduated from Streator high School in 1987.  She was employed with Streator Unlimited where she loved to go to see her friends.  Kay loved country music and especially Kenny Rogers and she even belonged to his fan club.  She was a member of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.  She was our special girl who loved everyone.

Memorials may be made in her name to the Streator Unlimited.

A visitation will be held Sunday from 1 – 3 PM at the Winterrowd Funeral Home with services being held at 3 PM with Pastor John Gutz officiating.  Burial will be in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery, Ottawa.

Kay has been laid to rest in the Garden of the Ten Commandments at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Sandra (Bell) Emanuaelson, 63, of Ottawa, passed away on Monday, January 30, 2023 at OSF St. Francis in Peoria.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2023 at the Marseilles Church of the Nazarene, with Rev. Bill Clark, Pastor, officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, February 3, at the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa.

Sandra was born on February 28, 1959 in Ottawa to William and Sharon (Conrad) Bell. She was a graduate of Ottawa Township High School, class of 1978. Sandra married Douglas Emanuelson on May 19, 1979 at the Marseilles Church of the Nazarene. She was a nutritionist and worked for Head Start for 26 years. Sandra was passionate about her career and devoted much of her life to the well being and nutrition of children. Her family was her world.

She is survived by her husband, Doug; mother, Sharon of Ottawa; and a daughter, Dawn Emanuelson of Ottawa.

She was preceded in death by her father, William, a son Doug, Jr., and a sister, Debbie Wing.

Memorials may be directed to the Family.

Sandra has been laid to rest in the Garden of Hymns at Oakwood Memorial Park.

Kathleen McCallister was born on December 18, 1951 and passed away on October 28, 2021.

Kathleen has been laid to rest in the Garden of Tranquility at Oakwood Memorial Park.