Raymond E. Defenbaugh

1946 - 2020

BIGGSVILLE - Raymond E. Defenbaugh, 73, Biggsville, died at 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, at the Great River Medical Center, West Burlington, Iowa.

Ray was born March 8, 1946, in Streator, the son of Charles and Esther (Koltveit) Defenbaugh. Ray was raised on the family farm in rural Manville. He graduated from Woodland High School in 1964 and pursued higher education at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Ray graduated in 1968 with a degree in ag education. He later obtained a master's degree in agriculture economics with emphasis on agriculture finance from Southern Illinois University.

Ray married Alice J. Norris on June 12, 1967, in Streator.

Ray often shared the main tenet that had guided him through life: faith, family and community.

Ray was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church. Were he here today, he would tell you that coming to know and accept the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ is the most important thing one can do with our time on this Earth.

Ray's ambition as a young man was always to farm, but a tragic accident at the age of 17 changed the course of his life. He was electrocuted in the accident and fought through a long recovery period, in which he lost part of his right arm due to infection. The physical setbacks he endured as a result of the accident left him unable to farm and he set his sights on higher education. After graduation from college, Ray taught ag education at Cornell High School in Cornell. In 1970 Ray took a job with The National Bank of Monmouth (now Midwest Bank of Western Illinois), where he worked as a loan officer, farm manager and appraiser until 1983, when he began farming full time. Ray was actively involved with the farm until early 2001 when he began working with local Iowa and Illinois farmers to build a farmer-owned ethanol plant.

Ray was a founding member, president, CEO and chairman of Big River Resources LLC. He was instrumental in raising funds to build the company's first ethanol plant in West Burlington. Today, Big River Resources LLC employs over 300 people and operates four ethanol plants in three states as well as operates numerous grain elevator facilities. Ray served and had leadership roles on many ethanol industry related boards, including the Illinois and Iowa Renewable Fuels Associations, National Renewable Fuels Association, Urban Air Initiative, American Coalition for Ethanol and Growth Energy.

Ray served as chairman on the Midwest Bank of Western Illinois board as well as vice president of Western Illinois Bancshares Inc. He served as a board member for the Pattee Foundation, Absolute Energy LLC, U.S. Grains Council, National Grain and Feed Association and Big River United Energy LLC.

Ray enjoyed spending time on the farm, attending family functions, hunting, and frequenting pawn shops to find a new "treasure." He was known to pick up many a hitchhiker, drove too fast, was seldom on time (despite having a large collection of old clocks) and had a unique ability to talk to anyone as if he'd known them for a lifetime.

Surviving are his wife, Alice; his children, Daniel (Johanna) Defenbaugh of Biggsville, Matthew (Melissa Shields) Defenbaugh of Biggsville, Jennifer (Mark) Kinneer of Kirkwood, and Deborah (John) Green of Little York; his grandchildren, Nathan Defenbaugh, Ella Defenbaugh, Nicholas Defenbaugh, Isabel Defenbaugh, Noah Defenbaugh, Luke Kinneer, Caleb Kinneer, Zack Kinneer, Dylan Green and Justin Green; his siblings, John (Sandy) Defenbaugh of Manville, Kathy (Ralph) Gehrig of Wheaton and Brian (Kathy) Defenbaugh of Manville; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Dale Defenbaugh and Les Defenbaugh; grandson, Carl J. Green.

Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, at West Central High School Gym (1514 U.S. 34, Biggsville, IL 61418). Interment will be in Beulah Land Cemetery, Biggsville. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, at McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory (1007 N. G St, Monmouth, IL 61462). In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Dr. Kasi Pancreatic Cancer Research. McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory, Monmouth, is in charge of arrangements. For more information, please visit www.mcguireanddaviesfuneralhome.com.