In Remembrance

Font Size:

| Friday, May 30, 2003 3:17 PM CDT | () comments

Willard Peterson

Willard A. "Bill" Peterson, Moline, died April 22, 2003, at Trinity Medical Center, Rock Island.

He was chief financial officer for Parr Instrument Co., Moline, until his retirement after 32 years of service.

After that, he formed Lawper Video Productions, Moline, and was president of the company until his death.

A double amputee and diabetes patient, Peterson also served as a correspondent for Stars & Stripes, the serviceman's newspaper.

Richard Karstens

Richard H. "Dick" Karstens, 89, East Moline, a well-known Quad-City restaurant owner, died May 2, 2003, at Heartland Health Care Center, Moline.

Richard Henry Karstens was born Feb. 27, 1914, in Moline, the son of Frank and Ellen Newberg Karstens. He married Margaret Hull on May 18, 1938, in Moline.

He was the original owner of three Moline Maid-Rites and the founder of Uncle Dick's Restaurant on Route 5 for 20 years. He previously was a route salesman for Five Point Bakery for 20 years. His first job out of high school was working for the original Whitey's Ice Cream, where he was the first non-family employee.

He was a former president of the Moline Conservation Club and a former member of Moline Elks Lodge.

Vincent Kearney

Vincent J. "Vince" Kearney, 89, Clinton, died May 4, 2003, at his home.

He was born on his parents' farm just east of DeWitt on November 16, 1913, to Michael J. and Anna C. Boyle Kearney. In 1931, he graduated from St. Joseph's High School in DeWitt, where he played basketball. On January 17, 1939, he married Evelyn L. Lynch at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Clinton.

At one time, he and his brother were co-owners of the Ford dealership in DeWitt. He subsequently held a series of positions with the Feed & Soy Division of the Pillsbury Co. in Clinton and Centerville, Iowa, as well as Fayetteville, Arkansas. When Pillsbury liquidated that business unit in 1957, he joined Investors Diversified in Clinton. He subsequently served as weighmaster and concluded his career with the traffic department of the Clinton Corn Processing Co.

Edward Edwardsen

Edward Edwardsen, 75, Davenport, died April 29, 2003, at his residence after a short illness.

Edwardsen was born August 2, 1927, in Queens, N.Y., a son of Tonnes and Selma (Jensen) Edwardsen. He married Lenore "Lee" Taylor on May 22, 1948, in Queens. They relocated to the Midwest, where they resided for the past 31 years.

Edwardsen owned and operated Cash Register Exchange, Davenport, for 20 years. He had previously worked for NCR for several years. He also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Oliver Briggs

Oliver Edwin "Ollie" Briggs, 77, of Rock Island, died Wednesday, May 7, 2003, at St. Anthony's Continuing Care Center, Rock Island.

Ollie Briggs was born Dec. 5, 1925, in Marathon, Iowa. He was raised in Iowa farming communities where his father served as the Methodist minister in Marathon, Boone and Newton.

In 1943, Briggs entered the Army, and during a tour of duty in Italy, he earned a Purple Heart.

At the end of the war, Briggs returned home to continue his education at Augustana College and the University of Iowa, where he graduated in 1950. After college, he joined the Apple Insurance Agency in Rock Island, which later became Briggs and Associates, a business he operated until 1985. Ollie also owned and operated Sir Georges Restaurant in Moline for 12 years.

John Harris

John H. "Jack" Harris, 88, Naples, Fla., died Sunday, May 11, 2003, at his home.

Jack Harris was born April 25, 1915, in Grinnell, Iowa, and grew up in Grinnell, Des Moines and Evanston, Ill. After graduating from Grinnell College in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in economics, he went to Washington, D.C., where he began his career designing business-form systems.

He founded Tri-City Business Forms in Davenport, where he found success designing production control systems for John Deere and other large manufacturers. His systems-design business expanded and was later renamed John Harris and Associates.

In 1959, Harris founded Star Forms Inc. of Bettendorf, as a manufacturer of register forms.

In the late 1960s, he expanded Star's offering to include stock computer forms. Star grew to become the largest provider of stock forms to redistributors in the U.S. In 1986, he sold his interests to a management-led group. Shortly thereafter, the company was sold to Bowater Inc.

He also co-founded the National Business Forms Association and served as its president from 1959 to 1960. In 1983, he was recognized by Business Forms and Systems magazine as the Business Forms Man of the Year.

Thomas McGill

Thomas James McGill, East Moline, died at home May 5, 2003, from stroke complications over many years.

He was born on June 25, 1919, in Rock Island to George and Annabelle (Levine) McGill. He graduated from Rock Island High School in 1937.

McGill worked at J.I. Case Co. as a reporter and photographer, and had several other jobs before becoming involved in real estate. He worked as sales manager for the Molette addition for Manhard Realty Co., and established McGill-Hillbloom Co., later McGill Homes Inc.

He served as president of the Quad-City Association of Home Builders, on the National Association of Home Builders' board of directors and on the Rock Island County Board of Realtors. He also helped establish the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Rock Island and Mercer Counties, now known as Transitions, and was its first president.