July 2 1940 June 29 2019 (age 78)
Maurice W. Yakle, 78, of Washington, died at 2:58 am Saturday, June 29, 2019 at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Born July 2, 1940 in Mt. Sterling, IL to Floyd and Clairetta Elbus Yakle, he married Patricia “Ann” Rhoads on October 2, 1965 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. She preceded him in death on December 19, 2016. He was also preceded in death by his parents; sister, Patricia “Patty”; and brother, Ronald “Ronnie”. Surviving are five children, Greg (Ann) Yakle of Williamsville, Tammi (Dan) Hagan of Washington, Stacy (fiancé James Campbell) Hall of Washington, Brad Yakle of Elkhart; Mark Yakle of Washington; 16 grandchildren, Eric, Z., Gage, Justin, Kelsey, Claire, Joshua, Brenna, Griffin, Jaden, Quaid, Paxton, Jovie, Jaron, Peyton, Ellie; two sisters, Mary Kassing of Mt. Sterling, Monica Bailey of Springfield; and one brother, Jerry (Janet) Yakle of Elgin. Maurice was a research mechanic at Caterpillar Inc. for 39 years, retiring in 2003. Morrie, as he was known by his family and friends, was first and foremost a family man. He was hard working, selfless, passionate, his grandchildren’s biggest fan, one of the best story-tellers, had strong moral values, and loved the Lord. He passed his values and many family traditions on to his children. Undoubtedly his favorite tradition was the celebration of Christmas. Morrie would see to it every year that Santa would make a visit to his house to deliver gifts to all his children and later, grandchildren, and then Morrie and Santa would go deliver gift baskets to many friends while trying not to get caught. His list always grew longer and his generous heart bigger. He was a man who sported many hats. His favorite team was Notre Dame, and annually took his sons to a Notre Dame game and if you didn’t know it by the hat he wore, you surely would know by his largely green wardrobe that he was an avid Notre Dame fan. He also followed Bradley basketball and was a season ticket holder. Morrie never missed a chance to attend Oktoberfest and enjoyed doing the chicken dance with his family or anyone else he could persuade to come to the dance floor. And if you knew Morrie, you knew he loved his yard work, gardening, and mowing on his John Deere tractor, which was his sanctuary. But in the end, it was always his children and grandchildren that were his real pride and joy, and his wife was his greatest love. He was a member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington where Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am Saturday, July 6, 2019 with Fr. John Steffen officiating. Visitation will be Friday, July 5th from 5 to 7 pm at Deiters Funeral Home and Crematory in Washington, with further visitation Saturday at the Church prior to Mass from 9 to 10 am. Interment will be at Glendale Cemetery in Washington. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society for lymphoma research.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Maurice W Yakle July 2 1940 June 29 2019 (age 78).
Deiters Funeral Home & Crematory – East Peoria
Death notice for the town of: East Peoria, state: Illinois