Edwin Finney

Edwin Finney -- St. AnneEdwin Lee Finney, 80, of rural St. Anne, passed away peacefully on Monday (Nov. 19, 2007) at 4:30 a.m. at his home, with his wife and daughter at his side. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. Saturday until the 11 a.m. celebration of the funeral Mass at St. Anne Catholic Church. Rev. James Fanale will officiate.Cremation will be accorded and cremains will be interred at St. Anne Catholic Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Kankakee Valley, St. Anne Catholic Church, or to the athletic department of St. Anne Community High School. Clancy-Gernon-Houk Funeral Home, St. Anne, is in charge of arrangements.Mr. Finney was born in Middletown, N.Y., May 22, 1927, to Edwin C. and Elma Lee Finney. He graduated early from Henry Hudson High School in Hudson, N.Y., and joined the U.S. Merchant Marine. He served for two years as a lieutenant commander on ships returning troops and war brides from the European Theatre. He attended Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y., where he earned a degree in ceramic engineering.He was in management his entire life, building and managing brickyards in Ohio, Iowa and Indiana, before moving to St. Anne in 1968, where he was summoned to manage St. Anne Brick. He retired from Crown Cork and Seal of Bradley in 2000, with 22 years of employment after serving as a superintendent and plant manager. He served as Papineau Township Supervisor for 24 years. He also served St. Anne Community High School as a board member for 24 years, to the present time. He was at different times board secretary, vice president and had two terms as president. He was the first recipient of the Dorothea Lowe Board Member Recognition Award, established by Lura Lynn Lowe Ryan, in 2001, in her mother's memory. The recognition noted his "unfailing commitment to the youth of the St. Anne area." He was a 32nd degree Mason, with degrees in both the Scottish and York rites. At one time, while living in Ohio and Indiana, he served as lay pastor to several small rural churches. He converted to Catholicism and was a member of St. Anne Catholic Church.He was married to Margaret Ellen Girdler on April 6, 1950. She died in January of 1976. They were the parents of one daughter, Lee-Ellen Finney Blanton; and two sons who died in infancy, Edwin Lee and Charles Arthur. He married the former Patricia Cohan on Sept. 24, 1977. She survives. In addition to his daughter and wife, he is survived by a sister, Elma Judith Cary (Carl) of Coxsackie, N.Y., and granddaughters, Elizabeth Blanton White (Robert) and Angela Lee Blanton Coulter (Jim), and great-grandchildren, Joseph Dylan White and Hannah Grace Coulter, all of Texas. He is also survived by five stepchildren, Michael, Marsha, Marc, Mitchal and Monica Willey, 11 stepgrandchildren, a special embraced daughter, Minnetta Davison of Chicago, and several nieces and nephews. The Finneys also hosted 20 exchange "sons and daughters," from 1981 until 2004, all of whom attended St. Anne Community High School.He was preceded in death by a sister and brother-in-law, Rose Finney Kajawski (Jim); son-in-law, Billy Joe Blanton Jr.; his parents; and his mother-in-law, Jane Cohan.He was a loyal Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls fan, and an unfailing supporter of St. Anne Community High School and its fighting Cardinals.

Edwin Finney

May 22, 1927 - November 19, 2007