Henry County, Illinois Obituary and Death Notices Collection

GenealogyBuff.com - Henry County, Illinois Obituary Collection - Page 8

Posted By: GenealogyBuff.com
Date: Sunday, 23 March 2025, at 3:43 p.m.

Martha (Litton) Lewis Jones
(March 17, 1922 - July 31, 2012)

GALVA - Martha (Litton) Lewis Jones, 90, of Clearwater, FL, formerly of Galva, died at 12:56 AM, Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at Brookside Hospice in Clearwater.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM, Friday, August 3 at Rux Funeral Home in Galva.
Rev. Martin Gutzmer will officiate. .
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the services at the funeral home.
Burial will be in Galva Cemetery.
Memorials may be directed to the family for a memorial to be established.
She was born March 17, 1922 in Nekoma, the daughter of Merle and Natalia (Zetterburg) Litton.
She married Robert Lewis and then, later married Howard Jones.
Survivors include her son, Wayne Lewis of Clearwater, FL, and two granddaughters, Natalia and Chenaia.
She was preceded in death by her parents, previous husbands, two brothers, a son, Randy Jones and her daughter, Pamela Mahan.
Martha graduated from Altona High School.
She worked at Hyster Company in Kewanee, and Danville, until her retirement in 1982.
She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Galva, and Royal Neighbors of America.
She enjoyed gardening and tending to her flowers.

Brohna "Daisy" Gerwig
(Died February 18, 2015)

KEWANEE - Brohna "Daisy" Gerwig, a longtime Kewanee, resident who had a talk show on Kewanee's WKEI for many years, died on February 18 in St. Louis, MO, at Missouri Baptist Hospital.
She was 94.
Born in St. Louis, in 1920, the daughter of Abraham and Flora Altman, née Cruvant, she grew up in St. Louis, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in 1941.
She worked as an advertising copywriter at Scruggs Vandervoort and Barney Department Store in St. Louis, before moving to New York City, in 1942, where she worked as a copywriter at a department store, ad agency and at Vogue magazine.
She met Robert C. Gerwig in New York, after World War II, and following their marriage in 1947, they settled in Kewanee, IL, and opened Gerwig's women's clothing store in 1948.
Daisy helped run Gerwig's and headed the bridal department for several years, known for helping dozens of area brides get ready to walk down the aisle.
With her lifelong interest in fashion, Daisy moderated numerous area fashion shows.
By the late 1950s, she began broadcasting an hour-long talk show on WKEI, talking about -- almost everything, and took calls from listeners on an amazing range of topics.
Daisy was a voracious reader and an avid supporter of the Kewanee Public Library.
She launched the first jazz fundraising dinner for the library, which has become an annual event.
In later years, she continued her love of radio and talked about books and library news as the library spokesperson twice a month on WKEI.
An advocate of education, she served on the Kewanee High School Board, beginning in the 1970s for three terms.
Even though Daisy was a St. Louis native and loved living in New York City, during the war years, she considered Kewanee home.
She embraced living in the country, small-town life and raised three children, several dogs and many cats in the 67 years she lived here.
She was passionate about gardening, and loved travel, reading, needlepoint and music. ,
Intrepid, fashionable and loquacious, Daisy was rarely seen in public without her signature red lipstick and a newspaper under her arm.
She is survived by three daughters, Mary Gerwig (Tom Hanson), Kathryn Gerwig (Robert Spielberg) and Amanda Gerwig; four grandchildren (Bess, Cassandra, Rob and Eve); her sister-in-law Marilyn Altman, née Jones of Santa Barbara (originally of Kewanee); nephews, John, James and niece, Barbara; and her beloved King Charles Spaniel Corky.
Daisy was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Corcoran Gerwig in 1998, after 51 years of marriage, and in 2008, by the brother she admired and loved, Cruvant William Altman of Santa Barbara.
A memorial visitation will be held at Rux Funeral Home in Kewanee, on Saturday, February 28 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the Kewanee Public Library.

Mary J. Polowy
(February 12, 1915 - February 19, 2015)

KEWANEE - Mary J. Polowy, 100, a resident of the Hillcrest Home in Geneseo, formerly of Kewanee, died at 5:48 PM, Thursday, February 19, 2015 at the home.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Tuesday, February 24 at Visitation Church, St. John Paul II Parish in Kewanee.
Celebrant will be Rev. Johndamaseni Zilimu.
Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 PM, Monday, February 23 at Rux Funeral Home in Kewanee, where a rosary will be recited at 4:30 PM.
Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Memorials may be directed to the family for a memorial to be established.
She was born February 12, 1915 in Peru, IL, the daughter of Frank and Julia (Suwada) Mirocha.
She married Andrew J. Polowy on May 29, 1936 in Kewanee, and he preceded her in death by June 3, 1996.
Survivors include a son, Frank Polowy of Kewanee, eight grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, with one on the way and two great-great-grandchildren.
She was also preceded in death by her parents, a son, Bernard, four brothers, John, Stanley, Thaddeus and Michael “Mickey” and two sisters, Barbara and Helen.
Mary worked as a supervisor at Kewanee Manufacturing during WWII.
She was a former member of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and its Altar and Rosary Society.
In her early years, she enjoyed attending the old feather parties.
She also enjoyed knitting and sewing.

Todd J. Adams
(December 29, 1965 - February 5, 2015)

KEWANEE - Todd J. Adams, 49, of Kewanee, died at 4:49 PM, Thursday, February 5, 2015 in the emergency room at OSF Saint Luke Medical Center in Kewanee.
Cremation has been accorded and a memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM, Sunday, February 8 at Rux Funeral Home in Kewanee.
Private inurnment will be held at a later date.
Memorials may be directed to the family.
He was born December 29, 1965 in Kewanee, the son of Norman and Marilyn (Rohrig) Adams.
He is survived by his mother, Marilyn of Kewanee, a son, Jacob Adams, three daughters, Kaitlyn Hayward, Cassandra Miller and Mary Grace Adams, a granddaughter, Autumn Marie and three brothers, Bill, Randy and Brian Adams.
He was preceded in death by his father.
Todd had attended Kewanee Schools and had worked at Pines Trailer and as a truck driver.

Clarence L. Hicks, Sr.
(August 21, 1924 - July 30, 2012)
U.S. Veteran

KEWANEE - Clarence Lester Hicks, Sr., 87, of Kewanee, died at 5:15 PM, Monday, July 30, 2012 at Royal Oaks Care Center in Kewanee.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM, Monday, August 6 at Rux Funeral Home in Kewanee.
Deacon Martin VanMeltebeck will officiate.
Visitation will be held from 3:00-5:00 PM, Sunday, August 5 at the funeral home.
Burial will be in St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Atkinson, where military rites will be accorded by the Kewanee Veterans Council.
Memorials may be directed to the Kewanee VFW.
He was born August 21, 1924 in rural Neponset, the son of Cloren and Edith (Watts) Hicks.
He married Ione DeDecker on February 17, 1942 in Galva.
She survives, as do two sons, Clarence (Georgia) Hicks, Jr. of Kewanee, and Lon (Cris) Hicks of Prophetstown, a daughter, Lynn (Jerome) Baker of Kewanee, half-brothers, Kenneth (Betty) Todd of Kewanee, John “Jack” (Marge) Hicks of Indiana, James Hicks of Chicago, Tom (Betty) Hicks of North Carolina, and Bob Dupree of Indiana, half-sisters, Marilyn (Carl) Burks of Kentucky, Eileen Meaker of Wyoming, IL, and Kathy (Gus) Georgelas of Indiana, eleven grandchildren and twenty-four great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, Carl, Delbert, Wilbert and Russell in infancy.
Clarence attended area schools and he entered the Army in May of 1943 and he served in the 771st field Artillery Battalion in the ETO until November of 1945.
He was a carpenter and had operated Big C Construction since 1965.
He was a life member and Past Commander of the VFW Post #8078 and a long-time member of the Loyal Order of Moose.
He was an avid bowler and also member of the Kewanee, and Annawan Bowler’s Association Hall of Fame and was Secretary of that association for many years.

Obituaries in Illinois Newspapers