Ronald Dale Crosby Obituary (1935

Ronald Dale Crosby, 84, of LeRoy, passed away on Monday, November 18, 2019. Ron was born in Green Valley, Illinois on October 16, 1935, the son of Bruce and Faye Crosby. He married Irma Faye Bland on August 16, 1959. They have three children, Julie Buck (Michael Steven Buck), Kerry Crosby, and Marcie Serd (Matthew Serd). He is the grandfather of seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Ron was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother, Russell Crosby. He graduated from Eureka College and earned his master's degree in education administration at Bradley University. His teaching career started in Creve Coeur for two years, then taught Biology, Advanced Biology, and Science at LeRoy High School for 10 years. In LeRoy, he was the head basketball coach and also coached football and acted as athletic director for four years. He then finished out his career teaching in Farmer City-Mansfield for 22 years. There he was the head basketball coach and also assisted with football. His summers were spent working in the corn fields for many different seed corn companies including Funks, Thorpe, Syngenta and Illinois Crop. Ron was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity (TKE) at Eureka College, and shared that membership with former President Ronald Reagan. He frequently told stories of when Mr. Reagan would visit the fraternity and how he gave his girlfriend's (later became wife) sorority their first television so they could watch Mr. Reagan on TV. While at Eureka, he played basketball, football and ran track. He was later inducted into the Eureka College Athletic Hall of Fame in October, 1999. He received the 1963-1964 LeRoy High School Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award; 1974-1975 Farmer City-Mansfield Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and was recognized in the National Yearbook of Outstanding Teachers; 1993 Blue Ridge Teacher of the Year Award; 1990-1991 Blue Ridge High School Apple Teaching Award, Special Service Award from Band and Chorus, 1993 Service Award from the Blue Ridge Board of Education, Blue Ridge Wall of Fame Award in 2012, and also had the yearbook dedicated to him. He served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Sangamon Valley Conference, was a member of the LeRoy Zoning Board of Appeals, and taught Sunday school at the LeRoy Presbyterian Church. He more recently attended Eastview Christian Church in Normal, Illinois. He was an avid St. Louis Cardinals, Illini, and Chicago Bears fan, but was the biggest fan of his children and grandchildren no matter the activity. He loved to hunt and fish, was musically gifted, and was a man of God. Arrangements are being made by Calvert-Belangee-Bruce Funeral Home. Services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at The First United Methodist Church in LeRoy, Illinois. Memorials can be made to the LeRoy High School or Blue Ridge High School Athletic Departments.