STUART, Fla. — John Curdes Lillich (81) was born on Feb. 1, 1941, in Columbia Metropolis, Indiana, and died on July 15, 2022, at Symphony Assisted Dwelling in Stuart, Florida, after a brief battle with pancreatic most cancers.
John leaves his beloved spouse, Rose (Hockemeyer) Lillich, only a month shy of what would have been their sixtieth marriage ceremony anniversary. Left to maintain his reminiscence alive is Rose; daughter, Jody Lillich Hughes (Kevin); son, John David Lillich (Traci); and 5 grandsons, Ian Silver, Jacob Hughes, Kevin, Cooper and Cole Lillich; and granddaughter, Religion Lillich.
He was preceded in demise by granddaughter, Kylee Rose Lillich; his mother and father, John E. and Virginia (Curdes) Lillich; his in-laws, Theodore and Evelyn (Nichols) Hockemeyer; and plenty of many shut mates.
An solely youngster, born to oldsters who have been thought of fairly mature for the time, he was the consummate over-achiever in every thing he did. John grew up in Columbia Metropolis, Indiana. In highschool, he was class president for 3 years, performed varsity basketball, labored for his dad’s small common contractor enterprise and met Rose in Physics class (in 1957). They dated by way of highschool and whereas John attended school at Purdue College to check Chemical Engineering. John and Rose married in 1962, whereas John was nonetheless in school and Rose was working as a nurse in West Lafayette to assist them financially. They lived in married-student housing, the place they made some life lengthy mates. He usually spoke of how enjoyable this time was of their early marriage — the “macaroni and hamburger” days, once they lived on a “shoe string” funds.
After graduating together with his MBA in 1964, John fielded presents from quite a few massive chemical corporations, however selected to work for Dow Chemical Firm in Midland, Michigan. John labored in lots of areas throughout his 31-year profession; initially in plastics, later in agricultural chemical substances and eventually in investor relations, reporting on to the Board of Administrators. John’s work at Dow supplied quite a few alternatives to journey together with his promotions and job modifications. He and Rose initially moved to Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and that’s the place they began their household in 1965. Throughout his profession, the household lived in Midland, Michigan (3 occasions), Hong Kong, Yokohama, Japan and Miami, Florida. They loved every location and the journey it allowed the household to do.
John retired from Dow Chemical in 1995. He and Rose had designed and constructed a Lindal Cedar house on Grand Traverse Bay in Elk Rapids, Michigan. This home was actually a ardour undertaking for him, as he completely loved designing each element. At the moment, John and Rose have been “snowbirds” and traveled forwards and backwards between Michigan, in the summertime and Florida, within the winter till 2005, once they made Florida, their full time residence. They lived in a number of areas round Palm Metropolis and Stuart, Florida, and have been very lively members of Palm Metropolis Presbyterian Church.
John was a real mental. He had an ideal humorousness. He cherished journey, “stylish flicks,” motion motion pictures, ethnic meals, “Beat Bobby Flay” and any present on the Meals Community, learning and instructing the Bible, house and landscaping design tasks, Massive Ten sports activities (particularly Purdue), volunteer work at Martin Memorial Hospital (now Cleveland Clinic) and his household … John was a really beneficiant father and “Papa.” He cherished planning huge journeys to the UK, Italy, Costa Rica and Belize (to call just some). John has left an indelible mark by his love and dedication to his household. We’re so grateful that he didn’t endure and he left this Earth very peacefully, with Rose there with him. We take consolation in realizing that we’ll see him once more!
Please be a part of us for a Celebration of Life service on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, at 11 a.m., at Zion Lutheran Church, 101 E. North St., Columbia Metropolis, Indiana.
A catered meal might be shared afterward, the place folks can share reminiscences or tales, view a household slide present and revel in John’s various music assortment.
