Obituaries
Obituary of Rev. Avis June Richardson
Rev. Avis June Richardson, 93, of Staunton, exchanged her earthly home for an eternal home on April 4, 2025. She was born opn June 20, 1931 in Burlington, CO, the third child of the late Elvis Guy and Sarah Margaret (Yale) Foley. She was raised in the home of her grandparents, William & Nellie Yale. At age 4, during the days of the “Dust Bowl”, her family moved to Missouri and settled in the southwest corner of the state near Neosho, where she spent the next 14 years of her life.
When she was 17, she met and married David Walter Richardson on May 19, 1949. To this union three children were born, Angela Jane (Charles) Pfeifer, John William (Barbara) Richardson, and Alisa Jean (Bill) Hoffman.
In 1968, Avis entered the ministry of the United Methodist Church (UMC) and in 1971 she received her ordination into the ministry of UMC. Upon finishing her theological studies at Northwestern University in 1977, she received Associate Membership with the Southern Illinois Conference in 1978.
During her ministry, she received appointments to 9 charges (13 churches) including Beckemeyer, Hamburg, Batchtown, Bellview, St. Jacob, Waltonville, Shiloh (Mt. Vernon area), Patoka, Vernon, Staunton, Dorchester, Wood River Evangelical, and Wanda, IL. After retiring in 1998 (for 18 months), she served as Interim Pastor for St. Paul United Church of Christ in Staunton for two years; then returned to serve for five more years at First United Methodist Church in Staunton.
She was a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary of Staunton. She also served on the Conference Committee for Voices of Children, and the Board of the UM Village in Lawrenceville, IL. In 1984, with donations from the American Red Cross, she began the Staunton Food Pantry, which was housed in the UMC for 15 years. For over 50 years, she wrote her “To You…With Love” column for local newspapers, writing for the Staunton Star-Times for over 36 years.
She is survived by one daughter, Alisa (Bill) Hoffman of Staunton; seven grandchildren, Aimee June (Casey) Baker of Cabot, AR, Crystal Dawn (Pete) Hoffman of Staunton, Robert Allen (Krista) Hoffman of Staunton, Michelle Diane (Shawn) Way of Taylor, MS, William Craig (Lou) Pfeifer of Fredrich, CO, Melissa Ann (Kevin) Piening of Bethalto, and Terri Lynn (Mikey) Hoffman of Gillespie; fourteen great grandchildren, Amanda (Chris), Christian, Amber (Adam), Samantha, Holly, Alexis (Blake), Mali (Matt), Layla, Grayson, Leah, Anna, Orion, Liam, and Maya; eight great great grandchildren, Michelle, Dakota, Joseph, Oliver, Ariana, Ivy, Blayklee, and Carter; and one sister-in-law, Mary (Richardson) Foley.
Besides her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Angela; her son, John; her great granddaughter, Bethany; her sister, Melva Foley; her brother, William Foley; three brothers-in-law, Howard Van Buren, Ivan Ping, and John Richardson; three sisters-in-law, Marsha (Mason) Richardson, Nancy (Richardson) Ping, and Alice Van Buren; two nieces, Nancy Lee Ping and Ruth Van Buren; and one nephew, Jack Richardson.
Visitation will be held from 10 AM to 12 noon on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at First United Methodist Church in Staunton. Funeral services will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at First United Methodist Church in Staunton with Pastor Nancy Hubert officiating. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery in Staunton.
Memorials are suggested to either First United Methodist Church of Staunton or to the family.
Comments
Timmy “Pastor Tim” Robbins, 54 of Charles City, passed away on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at the Floyd County Medical Center in Charles City, Iowa.
Timmy Alan Robbins Jr., the son of Timmy Alan Sr. and Eileen (Schrum) Robbins, was born on October 3, 1970, in Farmington, Missouri. He graduated from high school in Gillespie in 1988. He was united in marriage to Amy Hoffstot on December 21, 1990, in Granite City. The couple was blessed with five children, Dustin, Tyler, Loren, Noah, and Levi.
After high school, Tim worked in management at Wal-Mart which is what brought him to Iowa. He soon after began to feel the call to preach in 1991. He began his full-time ministry with Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Dodge as a Youth Pastor. He was also a bus captain, Sunday School teacher, children’s church teacher and served in both prison ministry and nursing home ministry. In 1997, Tim started a church in Kirksville, Missouri. In 2003, the family moved to Charles City and has served as the Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church for the last 22 years.
Tim enjoyed being involved in his community. He also served as the principal of the church’s school and had helped run youth camps in the past. He was on KCHA every Sunday morning, as well as a podcast, and YouTube channel. Tim loved geography, studying maps, and history, especially the Civil War. He enjoyed watching sports like football, NASCAR Racing, and other car racing. He was very active in his children’s sporting events while growing up and coached the church’s softball team.
Most of all, Tim loved his family and cherished every moment spent with them. Tim will be remembered for his kind heart and the unconditional love he had for people.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Amy Robbins; children, Dustin (Anna Lauren) Robbins, Tyler (Ashley) Robbins, Loren (Jacob) Scott, Noah (Angela) Robbins, and Levi (Danielle) Robbins; grandchildren, Evan, Hazel, and Cyrus Robbins, as well as Violet Scott, and Jasper Robbins who are in Heaven; father and mother, Tim and Eileen Robbins; sister, Tracy (Dan) Robbins; along with many cousins, nephews, aunts and uncles.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Dolphin & Bessie Schrum, William “Bill” Robbins, and Rosemary Baker; sister, Kimberly Robbins; beloved aunt, Kathy Robbins; aunt, Carol Greenwell; uncles, Aaron Robbins and Dolphin Jr., Donny, and an infant Paul Schrum; and cousin, Terri Dawn.
Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Calvary Baptist Church and continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.
A funeral service for him will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at Calvary Baptist Church in Charles City. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery in Charles City.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Floyd County Cancer Friends. Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home, (641) 228-2323, 1205 South Main Street, Charles City, Iowa 50616 is in charge of local arrangements.
Comments
David Alan Higgins, 71 of Mount Olive, peacefully passed away on April 17 at HSHS St. Johns hospital in Springfield surrounded by family. He was born on August 23, 1953, in Litchfield.
He graduated from Litchfield High School in 1971 and received a bachelors of art in music composition and theory from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1976. David married Patricia Higgins (Casey) in 1978. Together they had three sons, Robert (born 1980, deceased), Jeffrey (born 1981), and Andrew (born 1987). He was a lifelong teacher of music.
In 1984, after moving with his family to Minier, Illinois, he founded Dave Higgins Music Services where he taught guitar, bass, piano, and banjo, as well as tuned pianos until 2015 when he retired. After retirement, he and Patricia moved from Minier to Mount Olive to be closer to family.
David is survived by his mother, Roberta Higgins (Priori); his wife, Patricia; his sons, Jeffrey and Andrew; a sister, Cathy (Marty) Dillard; a brother, John (Kim) Higgins; and two doting cats, Shadow and Rudy.
He was preceded in death by his father, Melvin Higgins, and his firstborn son, Robert Higgins.
David loved his music, his family, his friends, and his cats. He enjoyed the finer things in life: Cardinals baseball, watching a storm roll in, summer vacations in State and Federal parks, and sitting on the front steps watching the world roll by. He also liked listening to the TV. He is dearly missed by all who knew him, and by a few who only heard about him.
Memorials may be made to Benld United Methodist Church. Visitation is on Saturday, May 3 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at Benld United Methodist Church with funeral services following at 11:30 a.m.
Following the funeral, there will be a Celebration of Life at Lake Lou Yaeger in Litchfield, Picnic Area #4, at 1:00 pm. All are welcome to attend. Kravanya Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Comments
Ronald G. Yurkovich, 87 of Mount Olive, passed away on Friday, April 18, 2025, at 10:55 p.m. at his residence. He was born on June 12, 1937, in Litchfield to Nicholas Yurkovich and Olga (Maren) Yurkovich.
He married Christy L. (Popovich) Yurkovich. Ron served in the US Army as an MP and Retired from Shell Oil Co. He was a lifetime member of Turner Hall, Croation Lodge, and Saint John Paul Catholic Church in Mt. Olive.
He enjoyed road trips with his buddy Filo and relentlessly gave him a hard time. He also enjoyed restaurants with only one rule “No bread, No Yurk!” Ron was a champion poley player and bowler in his opinion, but gave up bowling after throwing his bowling ball in #8 pond.
He is survived by his wife, Christy (Popovich) Yurkovich; son, Stephen (Mindy) Yurkovich; daughter, Catherine Yurkovich; step-son, Stephen (Amanda) Frizzo; five grandchildren, Tiffani Yurkovich, Kahl Yurkovich, Chloe (Heath) Darr, Charlie Frizzo, and George Frizzo; two great-grandchildren, Luke Darr and Riley Darr; sister, Barbara (Bill) Rhodes; brother-in-law, James Thomas; and many loved nieces and nephews.
Ronald was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Joyce Thomas.
Private family services will be held. Memorials are suggested to Catholic Charities Carlinville attn: Sean Caveny or Mt. Olive Library. Kravanya Funeral Home, Gillespie is in charge of the arrangements.
