Roy L. Wilimzig Jr.

1919 - 2018

Roy Wilimzig Jr.

Roy Louis Wilimzig Jr. 98, of Granite City, Illinois, born October 2, 1919, in Detroit, Michigan, passed away at 2:35 p.m. on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, at Anderson Hospital in Maryville.

Roy attended public schools in Edwardsville and Granite City, Illinois. He later graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in electrical engineering and worked for Illinois Power Company and Emerson Electric until joining the United States Army. He proudly served during World War II where he served as a pilot with the United States Air Corp. Before joining the Army, he married Margaret L. (Staples) Wilimzig on August 30, 1941 in St. Louis and she passed away on June 3, 2013. After returning from the service, he started an electrical equipment business where he worked until his retirement.

Roy worked with many young men in the Order of DeMolay and was a very active member in many of the Masonic orders including the Masonic Lodge Order of Jesters, a 33rd degree Mason in the Scottish Rite, 65 year member of the Ainad Shrine Temple in East St. Louis where he served as the 1967 Potentate and served as a board member of the Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis. He had also been a life member of the B.P.O. Elks. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville after becoming a resident of Eden Village Retirement Center in Glen Carbon in 2014.

In addition to his beloved wife of 72 years, Margaret L. (Staples) Wilimzig; his parents, Roy and Carolyn (Groom) Wilimzig Sr.; he was preceded in death by a brother, Frank E. Wilimzig.

He is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Sharon Kay and James Branca of Wildwood, Missouri; a son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Sheila Wilimzig of Little Rock, Arkansas; six grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; as well as other extended family and friends.

In lieu of floral tributes, memorials may be made to Village of the Blue Rose, Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville; Hope Lutheran Church in Granite City or to Shriners Hospital for Children and may be accepted at the funeral home. www.irwinchapel.com

Visitation: In celebration of his life, visitation will be from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, 2018, at Irwin Chapel, 3960 Maryville Road in Granite City with a Masonic Service at 6:15 p.m. followed by a Shriners walk through.

Services: Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 16, 2018, at the funeral home, with Pastor Alan Beuster officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Sunset Hill Memorial Estates in Glen Carbon.

IRWIN CHAPEL, Granite City, IL.