A loss in the family ... Harvey Traub

Harvey Samuel Traub, 88, died peacefully on October 21, 2019 at Serenity Villa at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury with his wife, Barbara, at his side.  He was born on November 17, 1930 in Strawn, IL, to John G. Traub and Mary Zehr Traub.  He was the oldest of nine children.  On February 18, 1951, he married his childhood sweetheart, Barbara Joan Weeks.  They were married for 68 years.
Harve grew up in the Apostolic Christian church community and at age ten became the “man of the family” when his father suddenly died.  He had eight younger siblings and much was expected of Harve.  In spite of extraordinary burdens placed on him in childhood, he met the responsibilities put on his shoulders.  He dropped out of high school his junior year in order to farm for his family.  He took correspondence courses to rejoin high school his senior year and graduate with his class.  He was his senior class president.  He started his own successful trucking business. However, his dream was to become a lawyer.  With the support of Barbara, he became the first in his family to attend college.  Then he went on to pursue a law degree at the University of Illinois.  On graduation, he joined Honegger’s Corporation in Fairbury as counsel. After a few years, he entered private practice with the Hanley & Phillips firm.  Harve loved practicing law as a general practitioner and felt proud to be rated by his peers as an outstanding “A” lawyer through the Martindale Hubbell peer review rating system. 
Service to his community also marked Harve’s lifetime.  He was proud to be a founding member of SELCAS (SouthEast Livingston County Ambulance Service).  He was a 32nd degree Mason and spent many memorable days driving sick children to the Shriner’s Hospitals.  He was president of the Fairbury Hospital Board for many years.  His enthusiasm for helping people through good governance shone in his role as precinct committeeman, and later Livingston County Republican Central Committee chairman.  He was proud to have been selected to be an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976.   Harve’s talents extended to real estate developments in Fairbury, Pontiac, and also in Kalispell, Montana.  He was especially proud to have developed Timber Ridge, the beautiful, wooded subdivision in Fairbury, creating homes for a multitude of Fairbury families.  He was active in Rotary Club for many years.  Harve enjoyed hunting and fishing and his friendships at Knoll Lodge. 
Though as a child, he was discouraged from worldly pursuits, nonetheless he sought books, higher learning, and travelling and he actively encouraged his children in these things.  His children cherish the many trips that he and Barbara shared with them to inspire and educate them.  He and Barbara travelled extensively within the United States and also internationally in Germany, England, France, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, and Mexico.  Harve deeply appreciated his family roots in Fairbury but loved the mountains in Montana and later Tucson, Arizona, where they lived for twenty years. 
Harve was a member of the Christian faith, having been raised in the Apostolic Christian community and church, later joining the United Methodist Church in Fairbury, and finally the St. Phillips in the Hills Episcopal Church in Tucson.
He is survived by his wife and also sons Eric, Chama NM, and John (Mary Jane), Mandeville, LA; and his daughters Mary (Correze”Buck”) Cunningham, Borden IN; and Barbara (Mark) Ulbrich, Towanda, IL.  He is also survived by his grandchildren:  Christopher (Bibiana) Traub, Randall (Deseree) Haurez, Tina (Larry) Beachler, Amanda Traub, Anna (Jimmy) Sines, Brad (Michelle) Cunningham, Joe (Thatsanee) Wiser, and Jessica (Pierce) Groover; and great-grandchildren: Taylor and Erica Traub, Coleman Haurez, Lee and Andrew Beachler, Owen, Jacob, and Luke Sines, Hayden and Dylan Cunningham, Evelyn, Sophie, Magdalena, and Josephine Wiser, and William and Alexandra Groover; five sisters, Dorothy Martin, Evelyn Saal, Ruth Streitmatter,  Kathryn Honegger, Marjorie Leman, along with many nieces and nephews.   He is also survived by his godchildren Ross, Scott, Janice, and Barbara Vail, the four children of his best friend, Stanley Vail.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Mary Mae Traub and Ida Lou Gundy, and his brother, John Traub.
Visitation will be from 4-7 pm on Friday, October 25, 2019 at Duffy Pils Memorial Home in Fairbury and 9:00 to 9:45 am Saturday at the church.  His funeral service will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 26, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church in Fairbury.  Burial will follow in Avoca Township Cemetery north of Fairbury.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to SELCAS, Shriner’s Hospital for Children, or Fairview Haven Retirement Community. 
The family wishes to thank the staff of Fairview Haven/Serenity Villa for their loving service, their dedication, and their kindness.

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