Cole Shelton, 75, of Sullivan, passed away at 10:13 a.m. Thursday, February 2, 2023 at St. John’s Hospital, Springfield with his family by his side.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:30 a.m. Monday at the St. Columcille Catholic Church, Sullivan. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday at the Reed Funeral Home. Burial with military rites conducted by the Sesser VFW will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday in the Union Primitive Baptist Cemetery, Waltonville, Illinois. Memorials are suggested to The St. Mary’s House, 320 N. 21st Street, Mattoon, Illinois 91938. Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net.

Cole was born on April 17, 1947 in DuQuoin, Illinois, the son of Frank and Juana (McCutchen) Shelton. He was a U. S. Navy veteran. Cole married Joyce Pelczynski on May 8, 1982 in Sesser, Illinois.

Survivors include his wife Joyce; son Travis (Andrea) Shelton of Edwardsville; granddaughters Kathryn and Madelyn; grandson Andrew; sister Barbara (Jeff) Emil of Tampa, Florida; mother-in-law Rose Pelczynski of Sullivan; sister-in-law Judy (Alan) Middendorf of St. Louis, Missouri and a nephew Ben (Krissi) Emil of Palm City, Florida.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Cole learned his work ethic from his family’s business, Shelton Farm Supply is Sesser, IL. He served his years in the U. S. Navy and then returned home to run the family business until 1994. After that, he pursued his interest in education through teaching Industrial Arts at Herrin High School. They then moved up to Central, IL and Cole continued this at Bethany High School. From there, Cole wrapped up his full time career driving flatbed trucks cross country. Once he had grandkids, he wanted to stay close to home and worked part time at the Ace Hardware store.

Cole would light up whenever he was given the opportunity to talk about cars, racing and his grandkids to anyone that would listen. His McDonald’s breakfast crew understood this all too well, which was a welcome break from the political conversations. Travis, Joyce and Cole spent their favorite years traveling around the country with Travis’ Jr Dragster. Cole was ridiculously proud to switch his racing energies to his son. Most recently, Cole loved getting to watch his grandkids learn their love for speed as they learned how to drive 4 wheelers themselves.

To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Cole Shelton, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.

Lennyx Ray Mann, 2-month-old son of Alexys Rayleigh Mann; went to be with our Lord in Heaven on Sunday, January 29, 2023.

Lennyx came into this world premature on December 1, 2022 at the Missouri Baptist Hospital of St. Louis. There he would stay for the first month of his life and become known as a “NIICU Warrior”.

His mother said that “Chicken Lenny” loved to snuggle with his momma, loved staring at the ceiling fan and had discovered that chewing on his hands was a great thing.
Baby Lennyx is survived by his loving mother Alexys Rayleigh Mann; a grandmother Valerye Mann; great-grandfather Donald Grear; aunts: Jayda and Olyvia Anderson, all of Carmichaels, Pennsylvania; aunt and uncle Amy and David Fry of West Frankfort, Illinois; and a cousin Alyiah Anderson.

He was preceded in death by his great-grandmother Robyn Grear.

Cremation services are through the Leffler Funeral Home of Benton.
To leave online condolences to the family, visit www.lpfuneralhome.com

Ruth Ann Crocker, 91, of Sesser, passed away on February 1, 2023 at Countryside Manor in Mt Vernon.

She was born on December 13, 1931 in Benton, IL to Lavern and Lorene (Tennison) Summers. She married William “Bill” Crocker and he preceded her in death on April 18, 2009.

She is survived by her children Susan (Mike) Summers of Scheller, Michael (Joanna) Eubanks of Bourbonnais, IL, William “Bill” (Lisa) Crocker of O’Fallon, IL and Jeffrey Crocker of Sesser; daughter-in-law Kathy Crocker of Scheller; ten grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, two sons Carl Crocker and Ritchie Eubanks and one brother Donald Summers.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday February 7, 2023 at 10:00 AM at the Brayfield-Gilbert Funeral Home in Sesser with Pastor Chris Hottensen officiating. Visitation will be on Monday February 6, 2023 from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at the funeral home. Burial will be at Maple Hill Cemetery in Sesser.

In lieu of flowers donations can be given to the Shriners Children’s Hospital and will be accepted at the funeral home.

For more information go to our website www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com

Walter “Duke” Dudzinski, age 86, of Buckner, passed away at 9:05 p.m., Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Stonebridge Nursing and Rehab Center of Benton.

His wishes are to be cremated with no public services.

Leffler Funeral Home of Benton; is in charge of the cremation arrangements.

Walter was born on April 11, 1936, in Hartford, Connecticut; the son of Walter Dudzinski and Mary (Krulikowski) Dudzinski.
Walt served in the U.S. Army at the end of the Korean War, serving in Germany. He would also serve in the National Guard.
While living in Florida, “Duke” worked as a security guard.

He loved the Lord; enjoyed singing and playing the organ and piano. The family said he loved to mimic Elvis. He was a huge John Wayne fan, and that is how he got his nickname. He also enjoyed playing scratch off lottery tickets.

Surviving is a sister-in-law Wanda Dudzinski of Buckner; four nephews: David Dudzinski of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Eli Wirtes of Southington, Connecticut, Jacob Wirtes of Creal Springs, Illinois, George Dudzinski, Jr. of Valier, Illinois; and his cat “Precious”.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers: Joseph Dudzinski and George Dudzinski, Sr.
Memorial contributions may be made to Friends of Franklin County Animal Control, P.O. Box 210, Christopher, Illinois 62822.
To leave online condolences to the family, or to share memories of Marvin, visit www.lpfuneralhome.com

Billy Ray Motsinger, 89, of Mulkeytown, passed away on Friday January 27, 2023 at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.

He was born on February 26, 1933 in Mulkeytown to George and Bertha (Rude) Motsinger. He married Stella (Yaridich) Motsinger on June 8, 1955 and she preceded him in death on August 10, 2004.

He is survived by his children George Motsinger Sr. of Mulkeytown and Susan Motsinger of Mulkeytown; three grandchildren Holly Motsinger, George Motsinger Jr. and April Motsinger.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, daughter-in-law Cathy Motsinger, four sisters Dorothy Motsinger, Alice Bacon, Ruby Dangreau and Aslee McGuire and six brothers Louie Motsinger, Virgil Motsinger, Edward Motsinger, Johnny Motsinger, Charles Motsinger and Clyde Motsinger.

He was an Electrician and was very proud to serve in the United States Army during the Korean War.

Funeral services will be on Saturday February 4, 2023 at 11:00 AM at the Gilbert Funeral Home in Christopher with Matt Griswold officiating. Visitation will be on Saturday from 9:00 AM until the time of the service at 11:00 AM at the funeral home.

For more information go to our website www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com

Larry Browning Odom, 79, of Benton passed away on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at Benton Rehab & HealthCare Center.

Larry was born in Franklin County, IL on March 7, 1943 the son of Raymond & Genevieve (Browning) Odom.

Mr. Odom married Nancy (Johnson) on February 8, 1963.

Larry graduated Benton High School in 1960. He was a hard worker, working for Illinois Central Railroad, then Freeman Coal Company and he farmed all of his life until he retired. After retirement he enjoyed buying cars, fixing them up and reselling them.

Mr. Odom is survived by his:
Wife: Nancy Odom of Benton
Son: Alan Odom & wife Lisa of Benton
Grandson: Aaron Odom of Benton
2 Granddaughters:
Kristen Odom of Benton
Ashley Odom of Benton
His dog: Kramer

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, 1 sister-Marilyn Keller and her husband-George.

Graveside funeral services will be held on Monday, January 30th at 11:00 A.M. at the Masonic & Odd Fellows Cemetery in Benton with Rev. Mark Minor officiating. There will be No Visitation, those attending the service are requested to meet at the cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to The Franklin County Animal Shelter or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For more information or to send online condolences please visit www.mortonjohnstonfuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.