James Horchem, Sr.

James Horchem Sr. -- Sun City, Ariz.Visitation for James Philip "Phil" Horchem Sr., 92, of Sun City, Ariz., formerly of Kankakee, will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais, and from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Saturday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Stratford Drive/Briarcliff Lane, Bourbonnais, where services will follow at 11 a.m. Bishop Stephen R. Beyer will officiate.Burial will be in Kankakee Memorial Gardens, Aroma Township. Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Valley, Sun City, Ariz., or to the LDS Missionary Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, where he was a member. He died Dec. 31, 2007 at Hospice of the Valley in Sun City. Services were held Jan. 5 at Camino Del Sol Funeral Chapel in Sun City West, Ariz.Mr. Horchem retired from Mobil Chemical as a chemist. He had worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps out of Glenview, helping build the Skokie Lagoons, North Avenue west of Elmhurst, and the Morton Arboretum. During World War II he worked at the Joliet Arsenal and was among those retained to close most of the facility following the war. He was born Oct. 8, 1915, in Topeka, the son of James Peter and Sylvia Elizabeth Ritchie Horchem. He was secretary-treasurer of the Joliet Chemical Society and past president of Thomas Edison School.Surviving are his wife, the former Gertrude Brown McKittrick, of Sun City, whom he married Aug. 29, 1984, in Washington, D.C.; two sons and daughters-in-law, James P. Jr. and Lorraine Horchem of Bonfield, Stephen D. and Betty Horchem of Ft. Wayne, Ind.; three daughters and two sons-in-law, Helen J. Kilbride of Peoria, Ariz., Joyce D. and Bill Connett of Ann Arbor, Mich., Karen M. and Bruce Miller of Layton, Utah/Peoria, Ariz.; one stepson and stepdaughter-in-law, David and Betty McKittrick of Ontario, Canada; 15 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren; three sisters-in-law, Amy Brown and Thelma Brown, both of Ontario, Ella Rea Christensen of Pittsburg, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews.Deceased are his parents, his first wife, the former Roberta J. Mullins; one brother, Nelson L. Horchem Sr.; three sisters, Pearl Horchem, Nelda (Horchem) Wilson, Norma (Horchem) Haake; one nephew, Nelson (Lee) Horchem Jr.; one niece, Norma (Horchem) Keirgard; and one stepson, Lee McKittrick.

James Horchem, Sr.

October 8, 1915 - December 31, 2007