Jon "Tony" Wessel

Jon Edward “Tony” Wessel, 82, of Frederick, Illinois, passed away peacefully at 10:11 am on Saturday, July 5, 2025, at the Rushville Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Rushville, Illinois.

Tony was born March 10, 1943, in Beardstown, Illinois, the son of the late Edward (Moose) and Minnie Lucille (Brown) Wessel. He married Brenda Sue Ralston on March 26, 1967, in Ripley, Illinois, and she survives. Except for about 4 ½ years of living in Springfield, Illinois, Tony has lived his entire life in the Frederick/Beardstown, Illinois, area—living the last 25 years of his life in the same house where he had grown up and lived for 24 years.

In early years, Tony spent many hours and days helping with farm work for neighbor Roy Scott—alongside Roy's son and Tony's best friend—Dennis Scott. He worked many other jobs throughout his lifetime—working at his dad's car wash in Beardstown, on a road crew for Payne and Dolan, laying fiber optic cable with John Dutch, several years at Allis Chalmers, and Bohn Aluminum in Beardstown (until they closed their doors). He finished his work career as custodian for the First State Bank of Beardstown. By FAR..his favorite job was in the machine shop at Allis Chalmers, where he was able to run the same delicate machines that his dad had run some years before him. He dearly loved the intricate and exacting work of the machine shop.

Tony was an AVID hunter. His favorite game to hunt was squirrels, ducks and geese. Even as his sharp mind began to cloud, if you asked him a question about guns or hunting, he could still give you the chapter and the verse and probably tell you which magazine contained an article on that topic!

Tony’s favorite family activity was having and working with horses...ESPECIALLY when the boys showed horses with the Appaloosa Horse Club. He loved all the preparation...the travel...getting ready for each class...meeting and interacting with everyone associated with each show...and cheering the boys on as they competed. His favorite horse show of the year was the Railsplitter; held at the Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds in Springfield. And he LOVED those horses with spots!! Tony has always been able to fix pretty much everything—a trait he inherited from his dad. He even took up crafting German weather houses, music boxes, clocks and other small items. One item he was particularly proud of was his VERY accurate rendering of the duck blind he hunted from with son Jon and friends...right down to the make-shift bathroom out back.

Tony was a member of the Frederick Christian Church. He loved Jesus and knew that Jesus loved him. He had great confidence in salvation through Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of believers. More than anything, Tony loved his family. He swelled with pride as he told people that he and Brenda had been married 58 years...and at ANY time he could speak of their two AWESOME sons and their families, and their accomplishments.

Tony was preceded in death by his parents, and Brenda's parents. In addition to his wife, Brenda, Tony is survived by two sons: Christopher Scott Wessel and daughter-in-love Sarah of West Terre Haute, Indiana, and Jon Ryan Wessel and daughter-in-love Amanda of Rushville, Illinois; five grandchildren: Zachary Wessel (Becca), Dylan Wessel (Olivia), Gavyn Wessel, and Lucy Ailenna Wessel, all of Terre Haute/West Terre Haute, Indiana, and Avery Wessel of Rushville, Illinois; one brother, Dan Wessel (wife Nancy) of Virden, Illinos; a brother-in-law Marty Ralston (wife Thelma) of Rushville, Illinois, a sister-in-law Linda Lubic (husband Skip) of Piedmont, Oklahoma and by several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Funeral services honoring Tony’s life will be conducted at 10:00 am on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at the Triplett & Wood Funeral Home of Rushville. Rev. Richard Young will preside. Interment will follow at the Messerer Cemetery in Frederick. Visitation will be held from 4:00 until 6:00 pm on Friday, July 11, 2025, at the funeral home. Memorial contributions in memory of Tony are suggested to the Frederick Christian Church. You are invited to share your memories of Tony and leave a condolence at www.triplettwood.com