Lola I. Steffen, 75, Fairbury, died at 6:40 pm Saturday, December 25, 2021 at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
Her funeral service will be held at 10:00 am Tuesday, December 28, 2021 at the Apostolic Christian Church, Fairbury with ministers of the church officiating.  Burial will be in the South Apostolic Christian Cemetery, rural Fairbury.
Visitation will be 4:00 to 8:00 pm Monday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury and 9:00 to 9:45 am Tuesday at the church.  The family suggests memorials be given to Fairview Haven Retirement Community or SELCAS, both in Fairbury.
Mrs. Steffen was born June 6, 1946 in Fairbury the daughter of Clayton and Margaret Huber Ott.  She married Henry A. Steffen on August 16, 1964 in Danvers.  He survives in Fairbury.
Also surviving are their children, Tami (Neil) Bahler, Tricia Steffen and Troy (Rebecca) Steffen, all of Fairbury; eight grandchildren; three great grandchildren; one sister, Mary Lou Ott, Eureka and one brother, Glenn (Mardell) Ott, Sarasota, FL
She is preceded in death by two great granddaughters, two brothers and one sister.
Mrs. Steffen was a 1964 graduate of Danvers High School and was a homemaker.  She was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church, Fairbury.

Fairbury – Robert Perkins, 89, of Fairbury passed away at 2:40am, December 21, 2021, at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
His funeral will be held at 10:30, Friday, December 31, 2021, at First United Methodist Church, Fairbury. Pastor Paul Wier will be officiating. Burial will be in Avoca Township Cemetery, Fairbury.
Visitation will be held from 9:30-10:30, Friday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Fairview Haven Retirement Community, First United Methodist Church, Fairbury, or donor’s choice of charity.
Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury is in charge of arrangements,
Robert was born December 31, 1931, in Piper City the son of Lester and Myrtle Thorndyke Perkins. He married Alene F. Zimmerman. She died January 15, 2016.
Surviving are her daughters, Linda Beckhoff of Farmer City, Patty (Gary) Hofmann and Bobbi Jo (Charlie) McKeon both of Fairbury; grandchildren, Andrew Medendorp, Sara Krzyzaniak, Kathryn Medendorp, Amy Drobny, Daniel Beckhoff, Amber Werts, Jennifer Whitfill, Janelle Henkel, Eric Hofmann, Chris McKeon, and Kendra Smith; and 16 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Debra Perkins; and one sister.
Robert was a member of First United Methodist Church, Fairbury.
He farmed in the Livingston County area.

Kenneth L. Helmers, 84, of Anchor, IL passed away on December 16, 2021 at Fairview Haven Nursing Home, in Fairbury. He was born on June 3, 1937 to W. Floyd and Lila Sweet Helmers and married the love of his life, Anna Phillips, on September 30, 1956.
Visitation for Kenny will be at held East Lawn Funeral Home on Monday, December 20, 2021 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. A funeral service will be held at Grace Church of the Nazarene, 610 IAA Drive, Bloomington on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Home Sweet Home Ministries or Grace Church of the Nazarene.
Kenny is survived by his loving wife of 65 years: Anna Helmers; 4 children: Kenneth Jr. (Regina) Helmers, Kay (Martin) Williams, John (Delores) Helmers, Amy (Lars) Pedereson; 9 grandchildren; 5 step-grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and siblings: Doris Payne and Gene Helmers.
Kenny was a life-long farmer in the Anchor area. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He loved the Lord and was ready to go home.
Condolences and memories may be left with the family at: eastlawnmemorial.com

Fairbury – Bernice Cox, 103, of Fairbury, passed away at 1:55am, November 27, 2021, at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
Her funeral will be held at 10:00am, Tuesday, November 30, 2021, at Forrest Apostolic Christian Church. Ministers of the Church will be officiating.
Burial will be in South Apostolic Christian Cemetery.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to services on Tuesday at the Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Fairview Haven Retirement Community or SELCAS.
Mrs. Cox was born June 4, 1918, in Strawn the daughter of Andrew and Martha (Zimmerman) Koehl. She married Wayne Cox on February 20, 1941. He died August 20, 1991.
Surviving are her daughters, Gloria (Lyle) Ebach and Gail (Kenneth) Kafer both of Fairbury; grandchildren, Jennifer (Doug) Dierkes of Bloomington, Gretchen (Jim) Sitman of Carol Stream, Kent (Amy) Kafer, Kevin (April) Kafer, and Courtney (Mark) Farrell all of Fairbury; 11 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great grandson; sister, Velda Huette of Fairbury; sisters-in-law, Gladys Koehl of Fairbury and Janita Koehl of OH.
She was preceded in death by her parents, four brothers and two sisters.
Mrs. Cox was a cook at Fairbury Cropsey School for 19 years.
She was a member of the Forrest Apostolic Christian Church and the Forrest Sewing Circle.
The family would like thank the caregivers and staff at Fairview Haven Retirement Community for wonderful care given to Bernice.

​Good Neighbors of Fairview Haven Update:
We wanted to send some love and encouragement (and snacks! ) to the team at St. James Medical Center. From one healthcare team to another ... we understand how stressful and disheartening the past couple years have been. Love and prayers to you all and THANK YOU for caring for our communities!

Colfax – Marilyn Kellar, 86, of Colfax, passed away at 9:10pm, November 7, 2021, at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
Her visitation will be held from 4-7:00pm, Friday, November 12, 2021, at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Colfax.
A private family service will be held. Burial will be in Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Colfax.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Colfax Restoration Project.
Marilyn was born November 20, 1934, in Pontiac the daughter of Rudolph and Mary (DeGroodt) Westermeyer.
She married Leon Kennedy Kellar on December 5, 1954, in Eppards Point Twp. He passed away March 11, 2015.
Surviving are her daughters, Kim Streenz of Colfax and Lea Ann (Larry) Watson of Lexington and sons, Rodney (Teri) Kellar of Colfax and Todd (Cheryl) Kellar of East Peoria; grandchildren, Kara (Chad) Ritchie, Brooke (Dave Wiltz) Hermanowicz, Michael (Lindsey) Kellar, and Lauren (Dustin McCarty) Kellar; great-grandchildren, Addison and Jackson Ritchie, Mia Trudo, and Graceyn and Hadley Kellar.
She was preceded in death by her parents, one brother and two sisters.
Marilyn was secretary for Octavia School District from 1967-1989 and Ridgeview High School from 1989-1996.
Marilyn was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Colfax. Going to church and her church family meant a lot to Marilyn.
She enjoyed many family vacations and especially traveling to Williamsburg, Galena, New York, and Colorado.
Marilyn truly loved and shared a special bond with her siblings and her nieces and nephews.
Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren held a very special place in her heart. She loved them dearly and was very proud of them.
The family would like to give their deepest appreciation for the wonderful care that their Mother received during her stay at Fairview Haven.

Alvin Raymond “Ray” Mishler 99, of Fairbury passed away at 2 pm, Friday, October 29, 2021 at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.   
Cremation rites have been accorded with private family services.  The family suggests that memorial contributions be directed to Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury or First United Methodist Church of Fairbury or SELCAS, Fairbury. Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury is in charge of arrangements. 
Mr. Mishler was born on May 6, 1922 in Brokaw Hospital, Normal; a son to Israel and Hattie (Metzger) Mishler.  He married Marjorie E. Lewis on November 25, 1944 in Bloomington. His wife, Marge survives in Fairbury.
Also surviving are his children, Linda (John) Gathman of Longmont, CO; Roger (Nancy) Mishler of El Paso; Robert Mishler of Champaign; two grandchildren, Christopher Gathman of Greeley, CO and Ryan Mishler of Bloomington.
He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, two sisters and one grandson Dannon Mishler.
Ray lost his father at an early age and began farming.  As the youngest son of the family, he managed his mother’s farm near Carlock until it was sold in 1943.  He served as a Sergeant in the US Army Air Force from 1944 to 1946 as a radio operator.
After the service, Ray farmed for a family friend in Carlock before moving to Fairbury in 1951. There he farmed for forty years.  Ray retired from farming in 1991 and moved into Fairbury. He worked various jobs, finally retiring from the City of Fairbury Water Department in 2012 at age 90. Ray was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Fairbury and a Mason. ​

John W. Stork, 84, Roberts, passed away at 10:50 am Sunday, October 17, 2021 at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
John was born June 14, 1937 in Fairbury, IL the son of Henry and Ida Hanni Stork.  He married Eunice Fehr on July 25, 1964 in Pontiac, IL.  She survives in Roberts. 
Other survivors include their children, Ann Stork, Bill (Shay) Stork, Barbara Stork, Lorrie (Rex) Shambrook, all of Roberts; Michael (Marie) Stork, Bloomington; Karie (Mark) Edelman, Fairbury; ten grandchildren, Chance Edelman, Tori Edelman, Kyler Stork, Michaela Stork, Rachel Stork, Kaden Stork, Shayla Stork, Gracie Edelman, Jolyn Stork, Elle Stork; Siblings, Elmer (Darlene) Stork, Chatsworth; Harvey Stork, Fairbury; Lena Jones, Forrest; Henry (Susan) Stork, Forrest; Wayne Stork, Fairbury; Helen Voeste, Forrest; Wilma (David) Kieser, Bloomington; 2 sisters-in-law, Susie Stork, Chatsworth, and Gwen Stork, Fairbury.
He is preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and one infant sister.
John served in the United States Army, was a lifelong farmer and a member of the Apostolic Christian Church, Fairbury.
John’s funeral service will be held at 10:00 am Thursday, October 21, 2021 at the Apostolic Christian Church, Fairbury with ministers of the church officiating.  Burial will follow in the Fairbury Apostolic Christian Cemetery with military rites accorded by the Fairbury VFW and American Legion posts. 
Visitation will be 3:00 to 7:00 pm Wednesday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury and 9:00 to 9:45 am Thursday at the church.  The family suggests memorials be given to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Research Foundation or to the charity of your choice.
John’s faith, family and friends were very important to him and he will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

Hello! We are planning to have a covid update Facebook Live on Monday 9/27 at 8:30 PM.
You will be able to see it later if you can't make it at that time.

https://www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com/obituary/alfred-kupferschmid

Wayne Leon Anliker, 84, Fairbury and formerly of Forrest, passed away at 1:20 pm Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury surrounded by his loving wife and family.
Mr. Anliker was born March 17, 1937 in Fairbury.  The son of Emil and Louise Kaisner Anliker.  He married Judy Traub on March 30, 1958 in Forrest.  She survives in Fairbury.
Other survivors include their children, Sherri (Paul) Kelson, Normal, Rodney (Anne) Anliker, Tempe, AZ, Robert (Linda) Anliker, Forrest, Sandra (Mike) Zimmerman, Dublin, OH, Steve (Sara) Anliker, Reynolds, IN; eighteen grandchildren, twenty- six great grandchildren; one sister, Beverly (John) Eisenmann, Fairbury and one brother, Gary (Edie) Anliker, Elgin.
Mr. Anliker had been a poultry farmer for many years.  He was a member and past minister and elder at the Apostolic Christian Church, Forrest.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm Sunday, August 29, 2021 at the Apostolic Christian Church, Forrest with the ministers of the church officiating and live streamed at www.forrestacchurch.org.   Burial will be in the South Apostolic Christian Cemetery, Fairbury.
Visitation will be 3:00 to 8:00 pm Friday, August 27, 2021 at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury and 12:00 to 12:45 pm Sunday at the church.
The family would like to thank the staff at Fairview Haven for their kind, compassionate and excellent care.

A statement from Fairview Haven Administration regarding the following article:
Reports that the Biden administration plans to require that nursing homes mandate staff vaccinations or risk losing funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. (article linked here: https://www.cnn.com/.../nursing-homes-federal.../index.html)

While we typically refrain from mixing politics with healthcare, we feel a statement is necessary in this critical time.
* * * * *
Following are excerpts taken from a statement from Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, including nursing homes.

“Access to the COVID-19 vaccine has been the most important development of the pandemic for older adults and the people who care for them”—and as such, we have strongly encouraged our team members and residents to consider vaccination. We believe it is the right thing to do, not only for nursing home staff, but also all healthcare workers who care for people with high risk of contracting severe COVID-19. The entire healthcare community has been risking their lives every day for over a year to protect older Americans from COVID. The vaccine is the best proven protection.

“While often good intentions can be found in any government mandate, we believe the best approach is to provide good solid education based on facts and science and allow each individual to make a choice. Sadly, there is a pandemic of misinformation in our world today that has bred confusion and mistrust in our healthcare community. Propagating fear and mandating things will not restore that trust but will only add ammunition to those who spread misinformation.

“To penalize nursing homes by withholding or withdrawing funding is not the right way to increase vaccination rates. Without Medicaid and Medicare funding, nursing homes cannot provide the quality care that our nation's most vulnerable older adults need. Our mission-driven nursing home, (LeadingAge) members, who operate on narrow margins in the best of times, depend on those funds alone to care for their residents. They cannot bear additional financial losses after more than a year of shouldering historic COVID-related costs.

“The (Biden) administration is right; we are on wartime footing. Defunding the care providers who continue to fight on the frontlines would be a tragic misstep. Americans agree that elected officials have failed older adults and the people who care for them by ignoring and underfunding America’s aging services for decades. (Link here: https://leadingage.org/.../Survey%20-%20Investing%20in...)
“We await more information from the administration about how and when this new requirement will take effect, and look forward to learning more details on CMS’ reported plans to work with nursing homes, employees and other stakeholders to increase staff vaccination rates in advance of the effective date.” —Katie Smith Sloan

* * * * *
A wise sister in the Lord just stepped into my office and said “God will provide if He wants this ministry to continue – right?” The answer to that is YES, without a doubt.

With that in mind, I would like to solicit prayer for the following decisions that Fairview Haven will undoubtedly face in the days ahead:
1. Regardless of one’s own personal opinion, there are team members who may be faced with leaving a career they love and were called to in order to stand on their convictions and feelings. Please pray that God will help them sort this out.

2. When team members make this decision, it could leave Fairview Haven (and all nursing homes) struggling with staffing shortages. Already, most nursing homes are struggling to find adequate staffing. While Fairview Haven has been blessed to be able to attract and retain high quality staff, a vaccine mandate may present a staffing challenge like we’ve never faced. Pray that God will fill the positions needed to continue this ministry as HE wishes.

3. Pray about a career in healthcare and, especially, long term care. We need high-quality individuals who have a calling to serve our seniors. This will be an ongoing need, regardless of vaccine mandates. The mandates will just add to the struggles.
4. Pray for the Administrative team and Board of Directors as we face decisions regarding the mandate. Likely, we will face difficult decisions, such as potentially scaling back the number of residents we can care for, reducing the number of Medicaid certified beds, etc. These are difficult times where our integrity will be challenged. Pray that God will help us discern the steps we should take to uphold the long-standing principles and values of Fairview Haven in light of the current situation.

5. On Saturday, July 31, Fairview Haven started another covid outbreak. This time around has been a little different as lessons have been learned and regulations have been updated. However, the same nightmare awaits us every day as we have many times seen the light at the end of the tunnel only to hear of yet another positive test. Our team is full of committed heroes! They work tirelessly to mitigate the spread of covid and care for those who test positive, often picking up extra shifts to cover for team members who themselves need to quarantine or picking up extra time to help staff the “covid unit.”

6. Please pray for our team and our residents! There are so many perspectives in the world regarding Covid-19. To many, it has been a pandemic that has touched their lives by limiting their social interactions and causing them inconveniences. To some, the pandemic has taken an economic toll. To some, it is considered a disease completely politicized and overblown to further the agenda of one party or another.

To our residents, it has been a time of fear, loneliness and discouragement. To our team, it has been an emotional nightmare. We’ve watched as our residents linger in depths of despair. We’ve cried as we see the fear in a resident’s eyes when they hear they’ve tested positive. We listened and tried to help as they gasped for air and struggled to breathe. And our hearts broke when we felt the defeat of watching them take that last breath, when we lost people we loved.
​
At the beginning of the pandemic, healthcare workers were hailed as heroes. Today, in many ways, they feel forgotten, unsupported and ostracized. We are still here, fighting the daily battle, and depending so much on the strength of our great God and on your prayers.
-Dave Blunier, Administrator, Fairview Haven

We interviewed a number of our Fairview Haven team members regarding their questions about covid and, particularly, the covid vaccines.

Following is a link to a video created by Fairview Haven’s medical director, Dr. Sam Steffen of Lexington, and Dr. Heather Schweizer of Fairbury, who is one of our physician partners at Fairview Haven.
Dr. Steffen and Dr. Schweizer provide answers to the questions asked by our team members.

We thought it would be helpful to share here also.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Fairbury – Donald E. Rinkenberger, 93, of Fairbury, passed away at 12:30pm, August 14, 2021, at Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury.
Private family services will be held.
Memorials may be made to United Methodist Church, Forrest or the Forrest American Legion.
Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury is in charge of arrangements.
Donald was born September 17, 1927, in Hancock, MN, the son of Ben and Minnie Wenger Rinkenberger. He married first married Rita Stephen on August 28, 1955. She died October 26, 1975. He then married Florence Ann Bender on December 1, 1979 in Forrest. She survives.
Also surviving are his children, Kim (Larry) Baggerly of Springfield, Dawn (Paul) Stork of Chatsworth, and David Rinkenberger of Forrest; grandchildren, Megan Wymore, Elijah (Ashley) Stork, Jared (Jenna) Stork, Isaiah (Brooke) Stork, Tamra (Thadd) Zimmerman, and Joshua Rinkenberger; 18 great grandchild; brothers,  Robert (Kay) Rinkenberger of Piper City, and Jack (Carolyn) Rinkenberger of Fairbury; sisters, Darlene (Joe) Miller of New Castle, OK and Barbara (Kenneth) Lund of Tucson, AZ; and sister-in-law, Mary Rinkenberger of Denver, CO.
He was preceded in death by his parents, infant daughters, Kimberly and DeAnn;two brothers, Duane and Kenneth; and two grandsons, Benjamin and Lucas Stork.
Donald retired from General Telephone in Pontiac.
Donald was a veteran of the United States Army, serving during the Korean Conflict.
He was a member of the Forrest American Legion.