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| Name: |
Verden L. Rinkenberger
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| Birth Date & Death Date |
December 4th, 1917 - March 7th, 2010
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| Obituary: |
Morton - Verden L. Rinkenberger, 92, of Morton, died at 11:25 a.m. Sunday, March 7, 2010, at his home. He was born Dec. 4, 1917, in Wolcott, Ind., to Chris C. and Alice A. (Punke) Rinkenberger. He married Elma A. Kaiser on Oct. 18, 1941, in Morton.
Surviving are his wife, Elma Rinkenberger of Morton; two sons, James A. (Marcia) Rinkenberger and Charles S. (Kristin) Rinkenberger, both of Morton; one daughter, Jane M. (Jim) Kolar of Leawood, Kan.; six grandchildren, Amy (Brodie) Hall of Denver, Colo., Kelly (Tommy) Hartford of Chicago, Josh Schneider of Denver, Ali (Brian) Andersen of Waunakee, Wis., Teel Rinkenberger and Bryce Rinkenberger, both of Boulder, Colo.; 10 great-grandchildren, Addison, Nicholas and Braden Hall, Thomas, Jack, Max and Sophia Hartford, Reece, Brooks and Jones Andersen; three brothers, Cleo (Esther) Rinkenberger of Peoria, Ed (Dorothy) Rinkenberger of Spring, Texas, and Glen Rinkenberger of Burlington, Iowa; and two sisters, Waunita (Sam) Hirstein and Bernice (Henry) Rapp, both of Morton.
He was preceded in death by one son, Donald Rinkenberger, in 1957 and one brother, Lavern.
A World War II Army Air Forces veteran, he was drafted on Jan. 16, 1941, in the first draft out of Morton serving stateside at various Air Force bases before being sent to Italy for 14 months. He returned home from Italy on the day World War II ended in 1945 as a staff sergeant.
Upon returning home from the service, Verden founded the Morton Welding Co. in 1946 which he operated for over 30 years before turning the business over to his sons.
He was a charter member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5921 and a lifetime member of American Legion Post 318, both in Morton.
A member and past Board Director of the Morton Chamber of Commerce, he was the 1997 Pumpkin Festival Parade Grand Marshal and the 2007 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award.
He served on the Morton Grade School Board from 1960 to 1969, three terms, before the Morton School District consolidated and was president of the board for one year. He also served on the Morton Planning and Zoning Commission for several years.
A 30-year member of the Morton Rotary Club, he had perfect attendance for all 30 years and in 2006 he donated to the Rotary Foundation so 51 Morton Rotarians could become Paul Harris Fellows. He also was a member of the Morton Optimist Club.
Verden attended Grace Church in Morton.
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| Memorials: |
Central Illinois Young Life, 23 Valley Forge Plaza, Suite 2, Washington, IL 61571 or Peoria Children's Home, 2130 N. Knoxville Ave., Peoria, IL 61603
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| Cemetery: |
Morton Apostolic Christian Church Cemetery
Corner of Birchwood Ave. and South 4th St.
Morton, IL 61550 (map/driving directions)
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| Visitations: |
4:00PM to 8:00PM on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at Grace Church (map/driving directions)
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9:00AM to 9:45AM on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at Grace Church (map/driving directions)
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| Services: |
10:00AM at Grace Church on Friday, March 12th, 2010 (map/driving directions)
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