Lawrence John Ill

Lawrence “Larry Ill was born in L’Anse, Michigan on June 3, 1933 to Anthony and Alice (nee Pelelier) Ill and grew up there along with his siblings. Larry graduated high school in the early 1950’s. His older brother, Robert (later Fr. Robert Ile) was in the seminary, but was moving to Milwaukee to work at Schlitz Brewery for the summer. Larry decided to tag along and also found work at Schlitz.

Larry decided to make Milwaukee his home and went on to attend UW-Milwaukee,working his way through college playing the piano at various lounges. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1964. With no luck finding employment in Chicago, he returned to Milwaukee and found a job at the Milwaukee Journal. Larry worked as a Research Librarian at the Milwaukee Journal for over thirty years before his eagerly-anticipated retirement.

A bit of a loner, Larry never married and always lived alone. For more than twenty years, Larry made Milwaukee’s East Side his home.

Larry’s love of music stayed with him his entire life. He amassed almost 100 classical music CDs. He knew the composers and their works. He and his sister, Mary, would spend up to an hour on the telephone working on crossword puzzles, where his musical knowledge often came in handy.

Larry died on January 15, 2014 at the age of 80 years. His is survived by his loving sisters: Jeanne (Bob) Sundberg and Mary (Ron) Tremethick. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends. A Memorial Mass followed by placement in the Church columbarium will be held at Mary and Ron’s home parish, St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, in Lewisville, Texas in the future.