John E. Bellatti

1918 - 2008

John E. Bellatti, 89, of Jacksonville, died Monday, May 19, 2008, at his residence.

He was born Nov. 4, 1918, in Jacksonville, the son of Walter and Hazel Brown Bellatti. He married Margaret Tomlin Gardner on July 11, 1953, at Pleasant Plains, and she survives.

He is also survived by one daughter, Susan Green of Henderson, Nev.; one son, John T. (wife, Stephanie) Bellatti of Evergreen, Colo.; one stepson, Tomlin B. Gardner of Chicago; nine grandchildren, Abigail (husband, James) Skinner, Amy Green, Andrew Green and Shelby Green, all of Henderson, Nev., Christopher O'Dowd and Amberlee O'Dowd, both of Henderson, Nev., and Jacob Bellatti, Joshua Bellatti and Jessica Bellatti, all of Evergreen, Colo.; and one brother, Charles M. Bellatti of Jacksonville. He was preceded in death by one infant daughter, Sally Anne Bellatti; one brother, Walter R. Bellatti; and one infant brother, Richard Bellatti.

Mr. Bellatti was a 1936 graduate of Jacksonville High School and a 1936 graduate of Culver Military Academy Naval Summer School where he received the Outstanding Seamanship Award. He graduated from Illinois College in 1940. As a student at Illinois College, Mr. Bellatti was president of the senior class, president of Sigma Pi Literary Society, co-captain of the varsity basketball team, and a member of the tennis team. After graduation, he entered Harvard Law School.

His law school education was interrupted by his service as a U.S. Naval Officer during World War II, from September 1941 to December 1945, when he retired as a Naval Lieutenant. He served onboard the USS Baltimore, spending three years in the South Pacific. He was awarded one Silver and four Bronze Stars for combat duty in nine battles in the South Pacific, including the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Marianas Islands, Wake Island, Guam, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, Formosa and Okinawa. From July 22 to August 14, 1944, the Baltimore made a trip from the above combat area to Pearl Harbor where the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his party boarded following a meeting there with military leaders. They then proceeded to Adak, Kodiak and Auke Bay, Alaska, before returning the President and party to San Francisco. The USS Baltimore then returned to combat duty in the South Pacific. At the end of World War II, he retired from the Navy and returned to Harvard Law School, where he received his law degree, Doctor of Jurisprudence, in 1947.

Mr. Bellatti was a 50-year member of the law firm founded by his grandfather, John A. Bellatti, in 1876. He practiced law in Jacksonville and Ashland from 1947 until his retirement in 1998.

Mr. Bellatti served as President of the Morgan County Bar Association and was active in many community organizations, including service as President of Jacksonville Jaycees, President of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Co-Founder and President of the Jacksonville Area Industrial Development Corporation; Senior Warden and Vestry member under two rectors of Trinity Episcopal Church, director of the former First National Bank, member of the board of the Art Association of Jacksonville, Treasurer of the Morgan County Fair Association, Chair of the Committee for the Advancement of Community Higher Education, and President of the Illinois College Alumni Association. He received the Illinois College Distinguished Alumni Service Citation in 1978 and the Chamber of Commerce Circle of Excellence Award in 2007.

The Burial Office was conducted 2 p.m. Thursday, May 22, 2008, at Trinity Episcopal Church with The Rev. Christopher L. Ashmore, Officiant, and The Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Langford, Assisting. Organist Mary Wilson accompanied Soloist Forrest Keaton as he sang “The King of Love.� Pallbearers were Daniel J. Beard, Harmon B. Deal III, Charles Frank, Allan Metcalf, C Matthew A. Smith and Charles Tomlin. Burial was at Diamond Grove Cemetery. Williamson Funeral Home in Jacksonville was in charge of arrangements. Memorials are suggested to Trinity Episcopal Church or Illinois College.