Vernon Butz

Visitation for Vernon G. Butz, 99, of Kankakee, will be from 3-8 p.m. Tuesday at Clancy-Gernon-Hertz Funeral Home, where services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Rev. John A. Curtis will officiate.Entombment will be in Mound Grove Gardens Mausoleum.Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, where he was a member, The Salvation Army, or Hospice of Kankakee Valley.Mr. Butz died Saturday (Dec. 4, 2004) at his home.He was born Oct. 24, 1905 in the Butz family "homestead" farm home, located on Pipeline Road in Limestone Township, the son of Charles and Mary Holderer Butz. His parents are deceased.His wife, the former Aglae Gernon, whom he married Sept. 26, 1931 in Kankakee, died Oct. 26, 2001.Surviving are one daughter, Jean Jaffe of Bourbonnais; two grandsons, Jason and Kellie Jarnagin, and Jacob Jaffe, both of Kankakee; and two great-grandchildren, Austin and Tyler Jarnagin.One brother, Willard Butz, is deceased.Mr. Butz attended grade school in District 69. The one-room schoolhouse accommodated all eight grades, taught by a single teacher. The teacher advanced him a grade above twice, so he graduated two grades early at age 12 instead of the ordinary 14 years old.He attended Kankakee High School, traveling five miles to Kankakee and five miles back home at night in a horse-drawn buggy and graduated from Kankakee High School at the age of 16.His parents thought he was too young to go to college, so he stayed home for one year and did full-time farm work before tractors and milking machinery were introduced. He helped his father using pitchfork and shovel, and working behind horse-drawn planting and cultivating tools.He received an LLB Juris Doctorate degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in June of 1927, passed the Illinois State Bar examination in July, and was sworn in as licensed Illinois lawyer in August, 1927, practicing law in Kankakee until Jan. 1, 1995.He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Dec. 5, 1942 during World War II, and attained the rank of Staff Sergeant with the additional honor "sharp shooter" with rifle and "expert" with pistol. He was honorably discharged in June 1945.He was active in many community organizations and projects, including the Kankakee County Bar Association and State of Illinois Bar Association since 1927, and was president of Kankakee County Bar Association., receiving a plaque in 2002 for exemplary legal service to this community for 75 years.He was elected to Kankakee School District 111 school board in the early 1930s, serving for four years.He was a member of First Baptist Church of Kankakee since he was 12-years-old, taught Sunday School and held the offices of treasurer, board of trustees and church deacon.Mr. Butz was on the board of trustees of City National Bank of Kankakee for many years, and when City National merged with First Trust and became First of America Bank, he served on the board for several years.He became a member of the board of directors of the YMCA and served as its president in 1936.He was a member of the Kankakee Kiwanis Club since the early 1930s, serving as president in 1942.He was a member of American Legion Post 85.He was a member of the board of directors of the Kankakee Chamber of Commerce and was its president in 1948 and 1949.He served on the board of directors of the Salvation Army and was honored by its board and staff with a citation in 2002.He assisted the sisters of St. Mary's Hospital in the acquisition of numerous houses on Fifth Ave. for the enlargement of the hospital and later served on the committee to raise funds for Riverside Medical Center, where he was on the board of directors for seven years, and was the first chairman of the Riverside Foundation.Vernon, together with an officer of A.O. Smith Company, advanced the idea to have nurses serve ill patients at their homes when it was difficult or impossible for them to travel to their physician's office. This resulted in the formation of Riverside Home Health Care Association.He was named president of "Dads" Association of Illinois Wesleyan University in 1968, and was appointed to the board of trustees, serving for many years; was a member of the Leadership Giving Club, served on the Campaign Advisory Committee, was a donor for Evelyn Chapel and Robert S. Eckley Distinguished Professorship of Economics.He hosted many alumni events in Kankakee, was a member of Phi Alpha Delta (law fraternity), and was a founding member of Illinois Wesleyan Estate Planning Counselors.His main interest, besides his devotion to his beloved wife Aglae and his daughter Jean, was his "homestead" farm and his "lawn and garden" at his residence on Cobb Blvd. He also enjoyed boating and was a member of the River Valley Boat Club.He attributed his long life to the genes of his father and mother.

Vernon Butz

October 24, 1904 - December 4, 2004