Obituaries/Death Notices
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Peoria - Dena Updyke, 78, of Peoria, died at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005, at Methodist Medical Center, Peoria.
Graveside services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, at Wyoming Cemetery. The Rev. Pamela Smith will officiate. There will be no visitation. Memorials may be made to the Hult Center Cancer Center for Healthy Living - for counseling. Wyoming Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Born July 11, 1926, in Stark County, the daughter of Leslie and Ila (Catton) King, she married Kenneth Updyke on Dec. 27, 1949, in Wyoming. He died Sept. 23, 2001, in Peoria.
Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Allen (Virginia) Ford of Wyoming; a brother, Gerald (Zaz) King of Wyoming; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Ralph and Dorrance King.
She was a secretary for the USDA Northern Utilization Research Lab in Peoria, retiring in 1979.
(Kewanee Star Courier, Jan. 8, 2005, submitted by Barb Miroslaw)
Peoria - Kenneth W. Updyke, 77, of Peoria, formerly of Wyoming, died at 11:07 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, 2001, at Methodist Medical Center.
Born Jan. 2, 1924, in Wyoming, Ill., he married Dena King on Dec. 27, 1949, in Wyoming. She survives. A World War II Army veteran, he served in the European Theater and was a member of Wyoming American Legion Post 91.
He worked for Caterpillar Inc. for 36 years, retiring in 1986.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Wyoming Funeral Home in Wyoming, where visitation will be one hour before services. The Rev. Pamela Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Wyoming Cemetery, with military rites accorded by his American Legion post. Memorials may be made to American Legion Post 91.
(Peoria Journal Star, Sep. 25, 2001, submitted by Barb Miroslaw)
(Peoria Daily Transcript, Jan. 2, 1898, submitted by Gaile Thomas, courtesy of Janine Crandell)
Thomas Vars Dead.
Friday evening at eight o'clock one of Edelstein's oldest and best known citizen
passed away. Thomas Vars came to Peoria county in 1854, and settled on a piece
of land now occupied by his son, M. B. Vars, in Hallock township. He was born
Sept. 7, 1824 and was seventy-eight years, one month and twenty-four days of age
at death. He was married Oct. 28, 1848 to Helen M. Hull, who survives. Four
children were born to this union, three surviving, viz: Mrs. Lilly Ayres, Morton
B. Vars and Miss Olive W. Vars, all of Edelstein. One brother, Horatio Vars, of
Berlin, N.Y., and one sister, Mrs. Dorcas Coon, of Adams Center, N.Y., also
survive. Mr. Vars held various offices of importance and trust in his town,
having at one time been supervisor, and at the time of his death was serving in
his twenty-eighth year as treasurer of the township. During nearly a half
century of residence in this community his industry and integrity, Mr. Vars has
commanded universal confidence and respect. In early manhood was converted and
united with the Seventh Day Baptist church, of which he has since been a
faithful adherent and liberal supporter. He took an interest in all that
pertained to the welfare of the community. Due to his extreme age and trouble
with his heart, his health has been poor for a number of years. His last illness
was brief, he having gone about his ordinary business on the day of his death.
Funeral services were held at the residence and in the S. D. B. Church of West
Hallock, attended by a concourse of relatives and friends. The Rev. F. E.
Peterson present. Interment in the West Hallock cemetery.
(Unknown newspaper, May 1905, submitted by George Zane, transcribed by Gaile Thomas)
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