Dolores Jane Byers, 90, of rural Tuscola, Illinois, died July 18 at Tuscola Health Care Center. She worked for the university. Memorials: Tuscola Health Care Centeror Immanuel Lutheran Churchin Tuscola.
Martin Joseph Knanishu, 70, died at the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Veterans Medical Center on June 17. His career as a lawyer began in the university’s Student Legal Service. Remembrances will be held in Placitas, New Mexico, on Sept. 21, hours to be determined, and in Rock Island, Illinois, at a date and time also to be determined. For updates, email rugbygizmo@hotmail.com.
Warren C. McCarty, 95, of Savoy, Illinois, died July 11 at his home. He retired from the university as a grounds foreman in 1979.
Kurtis Isaiah Pealer, 52, of Rantoul, Illinois, died July 9 at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. He worked at the university as a mail carrier for 10 years.
Patricia Eileen Price, 83, of Centralia, Illinois, died July 13 at Nature Trail Health Care Center, Mount Vernon, Illinois. She was a secretary at the university for 20 years. Memorials: First Christian Church for the care of the Prayer Garden will be accepted at Sutherland-Garnier Funeral Home, 235 N. Sycamore St., Centralia, IL 62801.
Selma Katharine Richardson, 87, of Champaign, died July 10 at Meadowbrook Health Center in Urbana. She was a professor emerita at the university’s School of Information Science, where she specialized in services and materials for youth. For more than a decade she was responsible for multiple editions of the American Library Association publication Magazines for Children: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Librarians. A graveside service begins at 1 p.m. Aug. 7 at Woodside Cemetery, Middletown, Ohio.
Grace Christine (McCormick) Prestin Samford, 96, of Savoy, Illinois, died July 14 at Willowbrook Memory Care in Savoy. She retired from the university in 1983. Services begin at 11 a.m. July 27 at University Place Christian Church, 403 S. Wright St., Champaign. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. at the church, with burial in Clements Cemetery. Memorials: University Place Christian Church.
Winton U. Solberg, 97, of Urbana, a professor emeritus of history at the university, died July 10. He joined the history department in 1971, retiring in 1991. The university awarded him its highest campus honor, the Chancellor’s Medallion, in 2017. A funeral will be held at a later date.
