James F 'Jim’ DeDecker, 04 Oct 1925 – 20 Jun 2012

DEDECKER, STAELENS, BRUGGEMAN, MCDOWELL, MILLER, MEIRESONNE, REIMER, REFER

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 9/13/2012 at 15:55:42

James DeDecker, 86

Mass of Christian burial for James F. “Jim” DeDecker, 86, of the Lighthouse, Silvis, Ill., formerly of Moline, Ill., was held at 10 a.m. Monday, June 25, at Sacred Heart Church, Moline. He died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at Trinity Rock Island.

Burial was at National Cemetery, Arsenal Island.

Memorials may be made to Alleman High School, Seton Catholic School or Our Lady of Peace Church Building Fund.

Rafferty Funeral Home, Moline, was in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.raffertyfunerals.com.

James F. “Jim” DeDecker was born Oct. 4, 1925, in Grinnell, the fifth of seven children of John and Elvira Staelens DeDecker, Victor. He graduated from St. John’s School, Victor, in 1942, and moved to Moline to work at the Rock Island Arsenal.

He enlisted in the Army and was inducted at Scott Field, Ill., April 20, 1943. He was an anti-tank gun crewman and served in the Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with First Oak Leaf Cluster for Meritorious Achievement in the ground operations against the enemy March 1, 1945, when he was with the 49th Armored Infantry Battalion. He especially remembered driving a half-track across the Alps at night with no lights on the vehicles. He was discharged from the Army Nov. 17, 1945, at Camp Breckinridge, Ky.

He married Marjorie J. Bruggeman Sept. 25, 1948, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Moline. They met before he enlisted and corresponded throughout his military service.

He learned the bricklayer trade when he returned to Moline and was a master craftsman for many years. He had his own masonry construction business for 17 years and later worked for several contractors in the Quad Cities area, including Axel Carlson, Priester, Kern Masonry, C E Peterson and C J Smith. He was well known for his skill in working with stone and building fireplaces. He had just received his 50-year gold card from the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers.

He loved camping, playing rolle bolle and euchre. After many summer vacations with his family at Devil’s Lake State Park, Wisconsin, the couple purchased property near Spring Green, Wis., where they built a summer home. They spent many happy years of their retirement enjoying the Wisconsin countryside. Most recently, while living at the Lighthouse, he enjoyed playing his favorite card games with his friends.

He was a 65-year member of American Legion Post 246 in Moline, the Ex-Servicemen’s Club, the Catholic Order of Forresters Court 1691, the Knights of Columbus, Leo Council 716, East Moline, and Fr. Bader Assembly 4th Degree, Rock Island, as well as being a supportive parent to Sacred Heart Dad’s Club and the Alleman Boosters.

DeDecker is survived by his wife, Marjorie; children, Jim DeDecker and Sally McDowell, Rock Island; Kathleen and Jim Miller, Naperville, Ill.; Christine and Dan Meiresonne, Orion, Ill.; Lisa DeDecker and Michael Reimer, O’Fallon, Ill., and Joe and Julie DeDecker, Orion; 14 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren and two expected; one brother, Jerry and Joanne DeDecker, West Des Moines, and one sister, Rose Refer, Victor.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Frances and John, and two sisters, Ida and Ruth.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune Iowa County Obituaries – 19 July 2012, pg 10