Roberta Clark, former resident of Arenzville, will celebrate her 90th birthday this month. She was born May 19, 1923 near Washington, Iowa, the third child born to John H. and Martha Wheelan.
She married the late Robert D. Clark of Arenzville at the Quonset Point (RI) Naval Air Station on December 29, 1944. After he returned from active duty as a naval aviator in the Pacific theater during World War II, the couple resided in the rural Arenzville community, where they raised their family of eight children. Mr. Clark was engaged in farming and worked for many years at the First National Bank of Arenzville. He died on March 20, 1989.
The couple’s children are John C. Clark (wife, Blanca) of Houston, Texas; Drew Clark (wife, Lainie) of Boulder, Colorado; Sara Burrus (husband, Roger) of Urbana; Annis Householder of Urbana; Tony Clark (wife, Amy) of Jacksonville; Jeffrey Clark (wife, Susan) of Bloomington; Martha Clark of Utica; and Molly Daniel (husband, Steven) of Charleston. Mrs. Clark has 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Clark completed a bachelor’s degree in journalism at The University of Iowa in 1944 and completed requirements for teacher’s certification at Illinois College and MacMurray College. She began teaching in Beardstown in 1964 and moved to the Triopia school district in 1966. She retired from teaching in 1980 but continued to serve as a volunteer tutor in teaching English as a second language.
Friends and neighbors are welcome to join the family at an ice cream social in her honor on Saturday, May 18, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the Laing Dining Room at Clark-Lindsey Retirement Village in Urbana. Birthday greetings may be directed to her at 101 W. Windsor, #3311, Urbana, IL 61802. No gifts, please.

Joan McGill of Springfield (formerly of Beardstown) will celebrate her 80th birthday with an open house hosted by her children. Friends and relatives are invited to attend on Sunday, May 5 from 2-4pm at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beardstown.
Joan was born on May 4, 1933 in Beardstown to Greenville and Edith Simmons. She married Melvin McGill in November 1950. Joan is a homemaker who loves to spend time with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A reception honoring Virginia Thompson on her 80th birthday is being held at the Elks Club, on Saturday, April 27 from 2-4 p.m. All family and friends are welcome to attend and are requesting no gifts.
Virginia was born in Macoupin County to Lela and Ancle Sonneborn on April 25, 1933. She married Myron Thompson in Greenfield on April 17, 1955, and they were married nearly 57 years.
Virginia was a registered nurse (RN) and worked at both the old and new hospitals in Beardstown, and also worked at St. John's Hospital in Springfield. She enjoys quilting and is a member of a quilting club, a member of the Emblem Club, and was previously a Hospice volunteer, She is very active in her church, the First United Methodist Church, and has been a member for 56 years.
Myron and Virginia are the parents of four children: Jackie Harwick of Muncie, Indiana, Julie Thompson of Beardstown, Bill (wife, Della) Thompson of Fenton, Missouri, and Susan (husband, John) Spalding of New Berlin. She has three grandchildren: Jason (wife, Jessica) Harwick of Wadsworth, Ohio, Corinda (husband, Aaron Tebrinke) Launer of Beardstown, and Rachel Thompson of Fenton, Missouri. She has two great-grandchildren: Kaelyn and James Harwick of Wadsworth, Ohio,
Virginia’s family is very important to her. She enjoys not only her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but also a brother, Tom (wife, Bonnie) Sonneborn; and three sisters: Doris Dewey of Amarillo, Texas, Susie Sonneborn Shanks of Jacksonville, and Jane Johnston, of Quincy.