Obituary of Maurice Leonard Illy

A Mass of Christian Burial for Maurice Leonard Illy of Elsberry, MO will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 5, 2017 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Elsberry.  Fr. Lou Dorn, of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Louisiana, MO, will officiate with burial in the Elsberry City Cemetery near Elsberry.  Serving as pallbearers will be his grandsons.  Honorary pallbearers will be his granddaughters.
 

Mr. Illy, 90, passed away January 2, 2018 at the Elsberry Health Care Center near Elsberry.  Born September 5, 1927 in O’Fallon, MO, he was the son of Edward F. and Stella H. Algermissen Illy.  He was a 1945 graduate of Assumption High School in O’Fallon, MO.  Maurice served his country in the United States Air Force from January 19, 1952 until he was honorably discharged on January 18, 1956.  He was united in marriage on April 7, 1956 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in St. Charles, MO to Anna Marie Weber.  This union was blessed with nine children: Edward, Janet, Judy, Kenny, Jim, Kathryn, Steve, Beth and Mary Ann.  Maurice lived and worked on his parent’s farm in O’Fallon before moving to his own farm in Elsberry in 1971.  He had a love for International Tractors.  Active in the Pike and Lincoln County areas, Maurice was a 4-H Leader, VFW Post #5553 in Bowling Green, MO, an honorary member of the Clopton FFA, and a member of Pike Co. SWCD.  Maurice often passed the time duck hunting, playing pinochle, telling stories, and making strangers into friends.  Maurice was a longtime member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church where he was active in the Knights of Columbus.
 

Maurice was preceded in death by parents, Edward and Stella Illy; one brother, Ralph Illy; and four sisters: Geraldine Hoff, Madeline Dove, Rosella Saettele; and Esther Illy as an infant.

Survivors include his beloved wife of 61 years, Anna Illy of Elsberry; their children: Edward Illy and his wife, Karen, of Eolia, MO, Janet Morris and her husband, Tom, of Bloomington, IL, Judy Lagemann and her husband, Mark, of Bowling Green, MO, Kenny Illy and his wife, Cheryl, of Wentzville, MO, Jim Illy and his wife, Jill, of St. Peters, MO, Kathryn Ploch and her husband, Eric, of Austin, TX, Steve Illy and his wife, Lori Ann, of Elsberry, Beth Patterson and her husband, Chris, of Cincinnati, OH and Mary Ann Leake and her husband, Mike, of Eolia, MO; thirty one grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.   

Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. Thursday, January 4, 2018 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Elsberry.  Memorials may be made to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Outreach, JR Palmer Family Memorial Library (or) the Elsberry Health Care Center in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 S. 5th Street; Elsberry, MO 63343.