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Messalina Torres
Messalina Torres, 2 months, of Kankakee, died Saturday (Sept. 13, 2003). Visitation and services are tentatively set for Thursday morning. Fitzpatrick Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
Mark Cuthbert
A funeral Mass for Mark A. Cuthbert, 50, of Bourbonnais, was celebrated Sept. 15 at Maternity BVM Catholic Church. Rev. James Michaletz officiated. Mr. Cuthbert died Sept. 12, 2003. Burial was in All Saints cemetery in Bourbonnais. Pallbearers were Jimmy, Michael and David Cuthbert, Tim Newton, Don McCabe and Chuck Pauli.
Donald Heck
ST. ANNE -- Services for Donald L. Heck, 76, of St. Anne, were held Sept. 15 at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais. Rev. Robert Demchuk officiated. Mr. Heck died Sept. 11, 2003. Burial was in Kankakee Memorial Gardens cemetery, Aroma Township. Pallbearers were E.J., R. Andrew, Austin, Jeremy, Brenda and Meghan Heck, Dave Bernatski and Alan Patrick. Honorary pallbearers were Richard Staads and Dick McGowan. Obituary Policy The Daily Journal does not charge for obituaries. Information may be faxed to 815/937-3876 by funeral directors. Families may fax, mail or deliver obituaries for non-local deaths to the office at 8 Dearborn Square, Kankakee. Paid obituaries will be taken for exceptions to the Journal's policy. For further information concerning obituaries, call 937-3368.
John Buis
MANTENO -- John P. Buis, 88, of Manteno, formerly of Blue Island, died Tuesday (Sept. 8, 2003). Visitation will be from 4-9 p.m. today at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home, 291 N. Main St., Manteno. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church of Manteno, 64 S. Walnut. Interment will be in Beverly cemetery, 120th and Kedzie Ave. in Blue Island. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Illinois Veterans Home in Manteno or to the Manteno Fire Department Paramedics are greatly appreciated. Arrangements are by the Krueger Funeral Home, 13050 Greenwood Ave., Blue Island. Surviving are his wife, the former Eva May Fick Langlois; two daughters and one son-in-law, Judy Plate and Sandra and Les Leikel; one son and daughter-in-law, John and Diane Buis; two stepsons and stepdaughters-in-law, Terry and Marcia Langlois, Gregg and Dawn Langlois; 12 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren; and one brother and two sisters-in-law, Peter and Virginia Buis and Marcella Buis. His first wife, the former Irene Ames; one brother, Richard Buis; and one son-in-law, John F. Plate, are deceased. Mr. Buis served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a member of the Manteno American Legion Post 755.
Clifford Calhoun
Clifford Calhoun Sr., 88, of Kankakee, died Monday (Sept. 8, 2003) at Provena St. Mary's Hospital. Arrangements are pending at Lax Mortuary in Kankakee.
Wilma Dryden
CISSNA PARK -- A memorial service for Dr. Wilma June Dryden, 85, of Cissna Park, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Union Church in Cissna Park. Memorials may be made to the Country Theatre Workshop or to the Cissna Park Education Foundation. Knapp Funeral Home, Cissna Park, are in charge of arrangements. Dr. Dryden died Sept. 1, 2003 at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind.
Ray Para
CROWN POINT, Ind. -- Ray Para of Crown Point, Ind., the son-in-law of Grant Park residents, died Saturday (Sept. 6, 2003) from injuries sustained in an auto accident. Visitation will be 2-7 p.m. today at the Pruzin and Little Funeral Home in Crown Point. Surviving are his wife, Debbie Para; two daughters, Ashley and Brittany; two sons, Jeremy and David; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Ray and Audrey Johnston of Grant Park.
William Rohan
former businessman
William Rohan, 94, a former local businessman, died Sept. 6, 2003 in a Madison, Wis., nursing home. His room was filled with flowering plants, cello music, art prints and photographs of family and treasures from his many travels with his wife, Annemarie. He was preceded in death by his parents, Siegfried (at the concentration camp at Buchenwald) and Emilie Aufrecht Rosenhain; two brothers, Rudolf and Walter; a sister, Friedel; his wife of 58 years, Annemarie Rosenfeld Rohan, M.D. (1911-1999); and a son, John (1943-1956). He is survived by a brother, Herbert (Ilse) Rosenhain of Heidelberg, Germany; two cousins, Renata and Sigrid Buss of Mannheim, Germany; niece and nephew, Janja Rekar Fritsch of Bonne Sur Menoge, France, and Ales Rekar of Dusseldorf and Lujbljana; and a son, Dr. James (Michele, his "favorite daughter-in-law") Rohan. Mr. Rohan was born Nov. 11, 1908, in Heidelberg, Germany. He was 3 years old when the Titanic sank, and he remembered British air raids in World War I, and witnessed the Red Baron fly under a bridge across the Neckar River in Heidelberg. He attended the University of Heidelberg and met his future wife at a student holiday party. Prohibited by Nazi edicts from continuing his studies, he helped his father and did odd jobs, while his mother, sister, and three brothers immigrated to Yugoslavia. Following Kristallnacht, November 1938, Mr. Rohan and his father were arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp together with many other German citizens. Some were released later, including Mr. Rohan, who returned to Heidelberg to try without success to obtain his father's release. In October 1940 he was ordered to report to the train station in Heidelberg "with one suitcase." Expecting their train to go east to concentration camps in Poland, he and his fellow passengers were surprised and initially relieved to be going west for deportation to a French concentration camp at Gurs, in the Pyrenees, where malnutrition, cold rain and mud, and typhoid and dysentery eventually claimed many lives. Having immigrated to the USA in the 1930s, Mr. Rohan's fiancee, then a medical intern, secured a visa and passage for Mr. Rohan. Her resident physician supervisor agreed to be financially responsible for Mr. Rohan during his first year in the U.S. (a requirement for obtaining a visa) after other people refused. Eligible for a U.S. visa, Mr. Rohan was permitted to leave Gurs for Camp de Mille, another concentration camp near Marseilles. The first steamship line kept Annemarie's money and provided no ticket, but her second attempt secured passage on a Vichy French ship leaving from Marseilles. In possession of his visa and a steamship ticket, Mr. Rohan left Europe for the U.S., only to be intercepted at sea by the Royal (Britain was then at war with Vichy France) Navy. He and his shipmates were taken to the island of Trinidad and interned in a camp there as displaced persons. Another steamship ticket from his fiancee and his U.S. visa enabled Mr. Rohan to arrive in New York in July 1941. Annemarie had taken driving lessons, purchased a used car, and driven to New York to meet him there. Mr. Rohan arrived speaking the English he had learned in school in Germany, and people asked him, "Are you from England?" When he tried to sound more American, he said "they asked, 'What part of Germany are you from?'" William Rohan worked as a jeweler in Chicago and briefly in New Orleans during his first years in the U.S. He then purchased a small building on Court Street in Kankakee, and started the Kankakee Plating Company, specializing in silver and gold electroplating. When his business grew, he moved north to Bradley and changed to industrial plating, doing work for Roper, Sears (chrome-plated chain-saw handles), and A.O. Smith (zinc-anodized bolts for Harvestore silos). He was a member of the Manteno Rotary Club and also attended meetings when he traveled internationally. Mr. Rohan was a kind and gentle husband and father and friend. On a camping trip out west, he threw a stone toward a skunk to discourage it from approaching closer to the family campsite, and accidentally hit the animal, which collapsed. Mr. Rohan was beside himself with remorse, until the skunk slowly rose to its feet, shook itself, and wobbled off into the night. It later returned and exacted vengeance on the family car, leaving a lasting impression on the family's olfactory nerves for the next several days of travel. William Rohan's many interests included houseplants, politics, art, theater, music, and travel. He read magazines, newspapers, and books late into the night. He enjoyed the Art Institute in Chicago and art museums in Europe, and was a long-time patron of the Goodman Theater in Chicago. He played cello in the Park Forest Symphony Orchestra. With his wife he traveled widely throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, the Caribbean, and Europe, returned often to Heidelberg. He and Annemarie lived on the grounds of Manteno State Hospital, where she was a psychiatrist, for over 20 years. In 1969 they moved into a house built for them on West End Drive in Manteno and lived there 20 years. He was probably happiest when they entertained a group of friends in their large living room filled with conversation, music, plants, lights, reflections, drinks and food. One of William's plants, a huge night-blooming cereus, sometimes provided the reason for a party by producing nearly 100 large fragrant flowers in one evening. The Rohans moved to the Westwood Oaks retirement community in Kankakee in the early 1990s. After Annemarie became ill they moved to Madison, Wis. rather than be separated from each other. He loved good wine and dark beer, sauerbraten at The Berghoff in Chicago, strong coffee and chocolate. He was an accomplished preparer of tapas, omelettes and Manhattans. He enjoyed plays on words in several German dialects and "corny" jokes in German and English. He laughed uproariously at Charlie Chaplin, Sid Caesar and Peter Sellers. He could solve any math problem his son encountered throughout school, even if he did not always "show his work." He adopted abused and neglected houseplants and nursed them back to health, after which their owners generally declined to take them back. Willy would want his friends to remember him by having a glass of wine (or other beverage) and listening to some cello music. Those wishing to contribute to a memorial may do so in his name to Doctors Without Borders, the American Civil Liberties Union or to a charity of their choice.
Thomas Spivey
30-year NIgas employee
ODELL -- Thomas H. Spivey Sr., 66, of Odell, and the son of a Dwight resident, died Monday (Sept. 8, 2003) at his home. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. Friday until the 11 a.m. services at the Duffy Funeral Home in Odell. Rev. Phil Icenogle will officiate. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Round Grove cemetery in Campus. Memorials may be made to a charity of the donor's choice. Mr. Spivey had worked as a technician for Northern Illinois Gas Company for more than 30 years, retiring in 1993. He was born Oct. 28, 1936, in Joliet, the son of Alvin L. and Jessie Johnson Spivey. Surviving are two sons and daughters-in-law, Tom Jr. and Deanna Spivey of Tolono, Bert M. and Maria Spivey of City of Industry, Calif.; one daughter and son-in-law, Kim anbd Mark Spafford of Pontiac; his mother and stepfather, Jessie and Kenneth Mau of Dwight; and six grandchildren. His father and stepmother are deceased. He was educated at Dwight grade and high schools and served in the U.S. Marines. Mr. Spivey was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Pontiac and the Lyons Club of Odell. He loved to fish.
David Stone
WATSEKA -- David L. Stone, 56, of Watseka, died Tuesday (Sept. 9, 2003) at Iroquois Memorial Hospital. Arrangements are pending at the Segur-Knapp Funeral Home in Watseka.
Johanna Wagner
GRANT PARK -- Johanna C. Wagner, 88, of Grant Park, died Tuesday (Sept. 9, 2003) in Kankakee. Visitation will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Momence Funeral Chapel. Rev. Gerald Norman will officiate. Private burial will be in Oak Ridge cemetery, Lansing. Memorials may be made to First Reformed Church of Wichert where she was a member, or Miller Center. Mrs. Wagner was born Dec. 8, 1914 in Roseland, the daughter of Gilbert and Ludena Aggen Wiersema. Her husband, John Wagner, died in 1981. Surviving are one son and daughter-in-law, John G. and Lucille Wagner of Grant Park; two grandchildren, Steven and Patti Wagner of Grant Park, Barbara and Robert Sikma of St. Anne; and four great-grandchildren, Douglas, Danielle, David and Darren Wagner, all of Grant Park. Her stepmother, Martha Wiersma, is deceased. Mrs. Wagner was a homemaker.
Paul Durflinger
WATSEKA -- Services for Paul E. Durflinger Sr., 47, of Boaz, Ala., formerly of Watseka, were held Sept. 9 at the Segur-Knapp Funeral Home in Watseka. Rev. Alan Chaney officiated. Mr. Durflinger died Sept. 3, 2003. Burial was in the Prairie Dell cemetery in Iroquois. Pallbearers were Terry Walker, Rick Younger, David West, Joe Kurns, Avery Durflinger Jr. and Bruce Houmes.
Mary Paquette
A funeral Mass for Mary E. Paquette, 84, of Kankakee, was celebrated Sept. 10 at St. Teresa Catholic Church. Rev. Gregor Gorsic officiated. Mrs. Paquette died Sept. 7, 2003. Burial was in All Saints cemetery in Bourbonnais. Pallbearers were Patrick Paquette, Jason, J.R. and Justin Bushey, Joshua Nantista and Alex Panozzo.
Merle Hilgert
ASHKUM -- Services for Merle O. Hilgert, 80, of Coloma, Wis., formerly of the Ashkum area, were held Sept. 8 at the Knapp Funeral Home in Clifton. Rev. Tim Rademacher officiated. Mr. Hilgert died Sept. 4, 2003. Burial was in the Danforth cemetery. Pallbearers were James and Brett Hansen, Michael, Kevin, Shawn, Christopher, Joshua and Ryan Hilgert and J. Mark and Daniel Ashburn.
Yvonne Junamae Boisvert
1930s-era Kankakee socialite
Ms. Yvonne Boisvert passed away on Saturday (Sept. 6, 2003) at her lifelong home in Kankakee. Ms. Boisvert would have been 95 years old on Sept. 25. Ms. Boisvert was the daughter of Adelard and Bertha Boisvert. She attended St. Joseph's Seminary in Kankakee where she excelled in many subjects. She spoke fluent French and was a talented local stage actress. After high school, Ms. Boisvert attended the MacCormac College in Chicago. Her love for the arts then led her to study at The Art Institute of Chicago. Ms. Boisvert demonstrated her talent for oil painting at a young age and continued to paint for many years. During the 1930s and 1940s Ms. Boisvert's Court Street home served as a gathering place where she hosted many of Kankakee's most prominent citizens. The guest lists from those parties read like a map of Kankakee, as so many of her guests were influential in the town's development. Many of her guests went on to attain prominence across the State of Illinois. Despite her advancing years, Ms. Boisvert maintained her ability to converse knowledgeably on many subjects. It was rare to ever see Ms. Boisvert out and about without a hat. She adored them. She loved being outdoors, picking blueberries, and traveling for sight-seeing, even if it was only for a drive in the country to assess the height of crops in the fields. Ms. Boisvert was well-traveled and told wonderful stories of her younger years when she had spent time abroad, traveling with family and friends. Ms. Boisvert was a genuinely kind and loving person. She will be dearly missed by her friends and extended family. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Kankakee Chapel of the Schreffler Funeral Homes, 1900 W. Court Street. According to the wishes of Ms. Boisvert, she will be placed in her family mausoleum at the Mt. Calvary cemetery.
