Donald E. Roberts Obituary
Donald E. Roberts age 85, of Quincy died on Friday, January 20, 2017 at 11:38 A.M. in his home. Don was born November 18, 1931 in Quincy, a son of Charles and Mildred (Montague) Veihl. He married Patricia “Pat” Sorrell on September 17, 1955 in Quincy’s St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and she survives.
Don worked at Tenk Hardware in Quincy after finishing high school and before being drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in West Germany for 13 months, and when he returned to Quincy he went back to work at Tenk’s where he worked for 11 years. Don went on to work for Belknap, Inc. as a sales representative for 21 years in west central Illinois. Before retiring he worked for Wyeth Co. During his time as a salesman, Don sold over 25 million hardware, houseware and sporting good items. He also drove over a million miles of west central Illinois roads without an accident.
In his retirement, Don helped Pat with the Herald-Whig paper route on the north side of Quincy that was in the family for 29 years. Don was active at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and School and in the 1970’s helped start Bingo Night. He coached Little League Baseball for several years, he loved St. Louis Cardinal baseball and always had a game on the radio or TV.
Don also loved discussing politics and was a huge fan of Barack Obama having met him when he came to Quincy in 2004. Don passed on Friday at almost the same time President Obama left office.
His very best accomplishment was his life with Pat, his wife of 61 years. Pat was his rock, his reality check, his caretaker, and his best friend.
In addition to his wife Pat, survivors include his 6 children, Randy (Margy) Roberts of Skokie, IL; Ron (Sharon) Roberts of Mt. Prospect, IL; Laura Roberts of Gurnee, IL; David (Sheryl) Roberts of Winchester, IL; Tim (Kelly) Roberts of O’Fallon, IL and Todd (Michelle) Roberts of Lombard, IL. 13 grandchildren, Elizabeth (James) of Boston; Kevin (Sarah) of Chicago; Sarah of Milwaukee; Samantha of Mt. Prospect; Sean of Chicago; Nolan of Winchester; Allison of Lee’s Summit, MO; Melissa of Columbia, MO; Jennifer of Minneapolis, Annie and Rachel of O’Fallon; Schuyler and Keaton of Lombard, IL.
Three brothers, Tom Roberts, Mike (Judy) Veihl; Pat (Betty) Veihl all of Quincy; a brother-in-law, Jim (Sandy) Sorrell of Hanna City and many nieces and nephews also survive.
He was preceded in death by his parents, in-laws, Jim and Margaret Sorrell and a sister-in-law Emily Roberts.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in the Duker & Haugh Funeral Home with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. in St. Francis Solanus Catholic Church. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to Ladies of Charity, St. Francis Grade School or to the K. of C. T.V. Mass for Shut-Ins. www.dukerandhaugh.com