obituary

Longtime Illinois State University faculty member and community leader Charles Morris has died at the age 92.

Scott Laughlin spent over 40 years as a radio host in Central Illinois. Most of that was in Bloomington-Normal. In 2000, he moved to WJBC, the community’s heritage news talk station, where he would soon take over as the morning show host and became the station’s top personality for close to 20 years.

Dave Ferrenburg died unexpectedly on March 11. The beloved athletic director at El Paso-Gridley was 60 years old.

If you didn’t know Lyle Day, know this: if you were in his softball family, you were family. He cared about you unconditionally. His death last week at age 88 leaves a void in the softball community beyond wins and losses, trophies and championships.

Jesse Smart served as Bloomington mayor from 1985 to 1997, after serving eight years on the city council.

Parker Lawlis, who served for 25 years on the Normal Town Council, died recently at the age of 88. A celebration and visitation is scheduled for May 20 at Carmody-Flynn Funeral Home, Bloomington.

Family, friends and former colleagues are mourning the loss of retired Illinois State University professor and archaeologist Jim Skibo, who died after a dive in Wisconsin.

Simone Goods, a recent member of the Illinois State University women's basketball team, died Saturday after a battle with cancer.

Longtime community servant Willie Brown died over the weekend, leaving behind decades of friendship.

Willie Brown worked at State Farm for 38 years, retiring in 2009. But what made Brown a near-household name in Bloomington-Normal was his extensive record of community service.