Obituaries: Waters

Posted on November 22, 2017

Dean Waters

Dean Howard Waters, 85 of Fairbury, died at 4:47 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017 at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington.

Funeral Service will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Fairbury with Pastor Tom Krieger officiating. A graveside and full military honors will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Park Cemetery, Pontiac.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be directed to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or Trinity Lutheran Church, Fairbury.

Dean was born on Jan. 20, 1932 in rural Fairbury; a son to James E. and Emily Pearl (Brown) Waters. He married Pauline Leach on March 21, 1954 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Rowe. His wife Pauline survives in Fairbury.

He is also survived by one daughter, Penny (Terry) Rathbun of Bloomington, Ill.; one son, Dean (Beth) Waters of Janesville, Wisc.; one brother, Edward Waters of Fox River Grove, Ill.; two sisters, Daisy (Don) Bellot of Fairbury, and Frances Choates of Gilman, Ill.; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, John Waters and one daughter, Deanna Sue Waters.

Mr. Waters was a truck driver for Nussbaum Trucking Inc., Normal; for 38 years. He served our country in the U.S. Army. He was also a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church, Fairbury. Dean had a gentle spirit and a giving heart that will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

Online condolences may be left for the family and a guest book is available at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…