Elwin "Butch" Rice, Jr.

Elwin “Butch” Rice, Jr., age 68, of Thomson, Illinois passed away Monday, August 15, 2016, at home. A funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 19, 2016 at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Thomson. Burial will take place in Lower York Cemetery, Thomson. Visitation will be held 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., prior to the service at the funeral home. A memorial fund has been established in Butch’s memory.
Butch was born February 5, 1948 in Savanna, the son of Elwin and Charlotte (Lahre) Rice, Sr. He attended Savanna Schools and was always fond of missing a few days of school to go fishing or sled riding down hospital hill. Elwin married Margaret “Tickey” Anderson April 1, 1965. Tickey passed away November 10, 1996. Elwin later married Christine Schomer June 24, 2000. They have celebrated sixteen years of marriage.
Butch was talented at auto body work and enjoyed farm work. He also worked at Atwoods in Stockton for a few years. Most of all, Butch loved spending time with grandchildren. He was an outdoorsman and enjoyed watching the boats lock-through Lock & Dam 13 on the Mississippi River.
Butch will be dearly missed by his wife, Christine of Thomson; three daughters, Jane Ann Rice of Thomson, Rose Rice and Darrell Stewart of Fulton, and Ellen Phillips of Port Byron; four step-children, Michael (Chris) Todd of Morrison, Virginia McClurg of Clinton, Iowa, Gordon McClurg of Clinton and Raymond DeMaar of Thomson; twenty-one grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren; two brothers, Francis (Janet) Rice of Galesburg and Raymond Rice of Savanna; and many nieces and nephews. Butch is preceded in death by his first wife, Margaret; his son, Leroy; sister, Hazel Steffes; three brothers, Vearl, Lawrence and Clarence; and a step-daughter, Martha McClurg.