John Henry Wesle, 82, of Lincoln died Wednesday (Aug. 6, 2003) at
7:30 a.m. at his home.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln.
His
funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader, with
the Rev. Julie Azbell officiating.
Burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Gridley Cemetery, Gridley.
Mr.
Wesle was a retired art professor. He had taught at Illinois State
University and at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and was an art
director in Sioux City, Iowa. He was also an arts journalist for The
Courier, The Pantagraph and other papers.
He
served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1944, during World War II.
He
was born Jan. 3, 1921, in Dayton, Ohio, to Herbert William and Helen
Notz Wesle. He married Celia Kretschmer in 1947. He later married
Thelma Marie Hibbs Phillis, on Feb. 28, 1981, in Bloomington.
Surviving are his wife of 22 years, Thelma, of Lincoln; his former
wife, Celia, of Springfield; four daughters, Margurite Wesle
Franklin (and Richard) of Winnetka, Maria Helena Wesle Brantmeier
(and Thomas) of Monroe, Wis., Janet Wesle Lambert (and Thomas) of
Naperville and Lori Phillis Sullivan (and Scott) of Crystal Lake;
two stepsons, Steven Phillis (and Nancy) of Denver, Colo., and Randy
Phillis of Denver, Colo.; six grandchildren, Justin Wesley,
Elizabeth, Catherine and Caroline Franklin, all of Winnetka, and
Joel and Anna Brantmeier of Monroe, Wis.; five stepgrandchildren,
Cass Gosney (and Jeff) of Idaho Springs, Colo., Jeremy Phillis of
Denver, Colo., Megen Phillis of San Francisco, Calif., and Taylor
and Erin Sullivan of Crystal Lake; and two great-grandchildren,
Rachael and Zachary Gosney of Idaho Springs, Colo.
He
was preceded in death by a stepson, Dan Phillis (Patricia) of San
Francisco, Calif.
He
was a former member of the Unitarian Church of Bloomington and
attended First United Methodist Church of Lincoln.
He
studied at Case Western Reserve University before he served in the
military. Later he graduated from the University of Wisconsin and
attended graduate school in New York, California and Madison, Wis.
He
grew up in the Milwaukee, Wis., area, where his father started the
engineering department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His
mother was the daughter and granddaughter of Lutheran ministers and
professors and the niece of the mayor of Milwaukee.
Memorials may be made
to
Hospice Care of Illinois.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the Wesle family.
