September 5, 2024

A sampling of headlines in this week’s Sidell Reporter. To read the stories that go with this, plus many more articles in this week’s issue, subscribe today to read the Reporter in print and/or online. For details click here.

Austin named mayor, other vacancies filled

Catlin no longer to rent railroad property used for semi trucking

Henegar fills seat

Jamaica High School Classes 1962, 1963 & 1964 gather

A good time was had by all at Catlin Lions’ Club Fish Fry

Salt Fork Sports
Rain delay doesn’t slow Storm’s defeat of Westville

Storm comes out on top with three tough sets against Heritage

OSF wins four, holds all scoreless

Girls place third, boys fifth in first cross country meet

Salt Fork beats Schlarman, St. Joe on the greens

Junior High Softball girls knock it out of the ballpark with 12-3 and 16-1 wins

Salt Fork band is marching on
Drum major added and performance with Marching Illini Saturday at Memorial Stadium

Miethe throws perfect game, handing Mary Miller Junior High a loss, 21-0


Obituaries

    JERRY PUCKETT, 80, passed away at 3:50 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, at the Accolade of Savoy.  Arrangements are pending at Robison Chapel, Catlin.

    LINDA KAY McGEE, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, passed away at 5:15 p.m. on Wed., Aug. 28, 2024, at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana with her husband by her side. She was 78.
    Linda was born on April 4, 1946 in Danville to Leo W. and Margaret M. (Lynch) Best. She married C. Michael McGee on Jan. 27, 1967, at the First Presbyterian Church in Danville. He survives.  Also surviving are her children, Noelle (Mohamed) Laghmam of Danville, Molly (Tommy) Selby of Germantown, Wis., Matthew (Kristi) McGee of Catlin and Nathan (Jessica) McGee of Mahomet; grandchildren Ty and Mya Selby, Jacob, Shelby, Karli and Grayson McGee and Zoe and Kinslee McGee; and sister Debra (Peter) Bachfischer of Metamora. She was preceded in death by her parents and her father and mother-in-law, Charles F. and Mary (Hawkins) McGee.
    Linda was a gifted musician who began singing and playing the piano as a young girl. After graduating from Catlin High School in 1964, she studied voice and organ at the University of Illinois, earning a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1969. That year, she and Michael started the Young Disciples high school youth choir at the Catlin Church of Christ.  Linda also directed adult choirs at the Catlin Church of Christ and Central Christian Church in Danville and served as a guest vocalist and organist at other area churches. In addition, she taught private voice, piano and organ lessons at Country’s Edge Music Studio in her home.  In the late 1980s, Linda returned to the U of I and earned a master’s degree in secondary education and training. She used her degree as a computer-based trainer, a job that took her all over the country. Later, she worked as a band teacher at Catlin High School, a real estate agent, and as an office manager at a counseling center.
     Linda’s favorite roles were mother, grandmother and proud farmer’s wife. She enjoyed living on the family farms, where she could look out the windows at the cows, sheep and birds, especially her cardinals. She loved to travel with her family and sister Debbie, who took her to fantastic destinations across the country.
     Linda was a longtime member of the Catlin Church of Christ, where she and her sister-in-law, Jeanie Church, played organ and piano duets, and she sang in the choir. She was also part of a close-knit Bible study group.
    Funeral services were Sept. 4, 2024 at Catlin Church of Christ with Chris Lawler officiating. A private family inurnment will take place at Oakridge Cemetery.  Memorials may be made to the Catlin Church of Christ. On-line condolences may be made at www.robisonchapel.com. 

  CHERLYN DIANNE MOYER was born on Sept. 8, 1946, in Danville to Ruth Lorraine James and WWII Navy Veteran Walter Edward Berg. She passed away on Aug. 21, 2024 in Huntington Beach, Calif. after a long illness. 
    Known by her nickname, Cheri, she grew up with stunning, auburn red hair in the small farming town of Sidell as one of seven siblings split between three loving families. She helped raise the younger siblings she lived with, which instilled in her a sense of responsibility that guided her throughout her life.  As a child of the 1950s, she loved drinking cherry Cokes and green rivers at the soda fountain in town, giggling at her teenage babysitter’s obsession with Elvis and visiting her grandparents, where she helped tend the irises and hollyhocks in her grandmother’s garden.
   She sang in the choir and became a member of the Honor Society before graduating from Jamaica High School in 1964.
    After graduation, she endeavored to attain a nursing degree but had to abandon her dreams when she fainted during her first attempt at drawing blood from a classmate. She and William Moyer of Westville left for California in 1968, stopping in Las Vegas to get married and lived in Inglewood.
    She returned to her studies majoring in early childhood education.
    In 1976, she gave birth to her only human child, Megan. She continued to teach and run the family home and in 1981, they moved to Orange County where she met and adopted her dog son, Scruffy.  She dedicated most of her free time to supporting the communities her family belonged to. At Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, she taught the littles and coordinated the Junior High acolyte program and served two different Girl Scout troops.
Her teaching career thrived at Orange County Headstart where she taught for over 25 years. She retired from the organization as the Principal of the largest program in the county. She then went back to teaching, becoming a literacy tutor. Because of her dedication to serving the people of Orange County, she was presented with The Presidential Volunteer Service Award by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation in both 2008 and 2009.
After a long life dedicated to making this world a better place for all, Cheri was met in heaven with love and celebration by her grandparents, Silas and Beatrice James; her parents, Ruth Mauk and Wally Berg; her step-mother, Dorothy Berg; her sister, Nancy Berg; her aunts, Louise James Vaught and Eleanor James; her niece, Micah Cox White; her dear friend, Julia Ahrens Oswalt, and her fur-children, Scruffy, Tarella, Nico, and JD.
    Cheri will be profoundly missed by her husband of 56 years, William Moyer; her daughter, Megan Moyer, her sisters, Donna Smith and Vicki Allison; her brothers and sisters-in-law, Rodney and Nancy Turner; Mike and Sandy Cox and Andy and Christie Berg; and many cousins. Cheri requested no memorial service, opting instead to have her ashes spread privately along the Central California coast.
     Memorials may be made to: The Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties and Orange County Public Library Summer Reading Program.

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