Moline Memories - MHS 66 Friends






Thursday, June 27, 2019

Watching the Weekly Favorites on Moline Memories

 They were not from Moline, but we have aged with them.

We watched too much TV, our parents said, while watching TV.

I enjoy looking over the most watched for the week list in the left column, finding out which posts have suddenly gained attention. The all-time most viewed are at the bottom of the blog page.

Often one post will be viewed for the week because that person just passed away. My father used to read the Moline Dispatch and rattle the pages, saying in shock, "He was my classmate!"

I thought, long ago, some children and grandchildren might ask, "What was it like growing up in Moline? Did anyone famous come from there?"

The software that mapped the origin of readers often glowed for that spot called Hollywood, where we had three celebrities working or retired there.

I used to walk by the Bartlett Insurance Agency in downtown Moline, near Melo Cream. I never thought, "Maybe one will star on TV and be married to another star forever." No wait - "Maybe the family will build a beautiful addition on our new (in the 60s) high school."

Perhaps someone will win the Medal of Honor, someone I knew in school. No, too rare for that to happen.


 Downtown Moline in the 1950s. "Sir, Moline was a small town, as I have said, but there were those who loved her."

Bonnie Bartlett



 John Baker, Medal of Honor.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Legendary Locals - By David Coopman - "Coop"

 Legendary Locals of Moline, Illinois, by David Coopman

I cleaned up my bookshelf, sending many to friends, neighbors, and Waste Management, Inc. I kept Legendary Locals of Moline, because that is endlessly fascinating.

This is David Coopman's fourth book about the Quad-City Area, cities surrounded by farmland and flood waters. So many greats have come from this area that my wife responds to news about inventions and achievements this way, "I know, another Moliner."

Not always - but often. The computer was invented at a Rock Island roadhouse.

QC Online
"The research, going over old advertisements and meeting people who made the station what it was, is special," he says. "It never fails -- when I go to check a fact that I'm expecting to take 15 minutes, it always takes me three or four hours. It's been that much fun researching this book."
Lagomarcino's had to be in the book, but what about the Mayor of the Lutheran Holyland - Perryville, Missouri - Debbie Mitchell Gahan?

 


 Eyre is in the book for tennis, but added poetry to his resume. Publish or perish applies to tennis professors too.

Which class should have the most legendary honors, you dare ask? The Class the Stars Fell On - 1966.


Sunday, June 9, 2019

Rest in Peace - Donald E. Coberly

Donald Coberly


April 26, 1948-May 31, 2019
KEITHSBURG — Funeral services for Donald E. Coberley, 71, of Keithsburg, will be 10 a.m. Tuesday at Van Hoe Funeral Home Ltd., East Moline. Burial will be in Rock Island National Cemetery. Mr. Coberley went home to be with the Lord on Friday, May 31, 2019. Visitation will be 4-6 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Don was born April 26, 1948, in Moline, the son of Jasper and Delia McLey Coberley. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1967-1973 as a communication technician with rank of petty officer. He was stationed in Kamiseya and Hakata, Japan, and Galeta Island, Panama Canal Zone. He married Connie Haney on March 23, 1974, in East Moline. He retired from John Deere Harvester East Moline in 1997, after 31 years of service. After retirement he worked for Illiniwek Forest Preserve for 14 years and then went to Ohio State Park for an additional seven years of service. He enjoyed playing the banjo, fishing, camping and playing golf. He loved spending time with his family.
Survivors include his wife, Connie; children, Stacie Coberley (Bob Kadel) Taylor Ridge, Julie Coberley, Hampton, and Michael Coberley (Laura Yates), Seaton; 15 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and sister, Frances (Brent) McNelly, Xenia, Ohio.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorials may be made to the family.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.vanhoe.com.