- Date Of Birth: April 1, 1934
- Date Of Death: December 24, 2017
- State: Illinois
Bob Hugill, 83, passed on the morning of December 24, 2017 at Manor Court of Freeport.
He was born to Percy and Ione (Edwards) Hugill on April 1, 1934, always claiming his birthday as “April One” in hopes that no one would notice the date. Bob graduated from high school in Cobb, WI and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at University of Wisconsin – Platteville. He taught industrial education for one year in Mellen, WI and for thirty-four years at Dakota (IL) High School, where he won “Teacher of the Year” in 2006. Bob was also a member of the active reserve.
He married Jeannine Graham on March 21, 1956, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, IA. They spent their honeymoon in the Great Smoky Mountains where they climbed Mount Le Conte. Together, he and Jeannine raised two children and, over the years, several cats.
On Christmas of 1969, Bob was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and spent three months at Freeport Memorial Hospital. While he was initially left totally paralyzed, he learned to walk again with the helpful care of the staff and the excellent work of his physical therapists. That summer, he took his family on vacation to South Dakota’s Black Hills and Badlands National Park; in the fall of that same year, he resumed his teaching career and established the Building Trades classes in which he and his students constructed twenty-six houses in the area.
Over his summers off, he and his family enjoyed many camping trips and toured forty-seven of the continental United States, never bothering to stop in Rhode Island. The remainder of his breaks were spent building trophies with his good friend, the late Stan Simler. After retiring for the first (and later, second) time while Jeannine was still teaching, he took many trips on his own to explore historic sites and to catch up with friends and relatives. Bob claimed that part of his “retirement package” was having breakfast out each morning, frequenting The Big Apple and Country Junction throughout the year and Park Hills Golf Course during the summer. He enjoyed trains, both life-size and Lionel, and was an avid NASCAR fan. He loved listening to classical music and adored hearing Christmas songs all year round.
His family and friends will remember him for his quiet battle with the many problems and complications of his MS, but will always take note of the strength in his sentiment – never being one to feel sorry for himself or to beg the question, “Why me?” Over time, Bob went from using a cane to a walker, eventually spending the last seven years in a wheelchair. Even through this decline, he built wheeled platforms for his power tools, enabling him to continue work on his many projects.
He is survived by his wife, Jeannine; his son, Taylor (Cheryl Birchen) and daughter, Heather (Gregory) Kempel; his grandchildren, Erik and Kelsey Eiseman, and Chris, Curt, and Chelsea Kempel; his brother Roger and wife Lois; nieces and nephews, and his much loved auxillary family, Lee and Darla Flickinger and Kim Ziegelbauer.
