Ralph Eads

Ralph Eads, age 76, longtime resident of Mt. Carroll passed away Sunday, April 23 at Allure
Nursing Center in Mt. Carroll after an extended illness. A funeral service will be held 2pm
Sunday, April 30, 2023, at the Mt. Carroll Church of God with Pastor Tim Yoder officiating.
Inurnment will be at a future date in Boiling Springs Cemetery, Decatur, Illinois. Visitation will
be held 4 – 7pm Saturday, April 29, 2023 at Law Jones Funeral Home, Mt. Carroll, and one hour
prior to the service at the Church on Sunday.

Ralph was born January 31st, 1947 in Decatur, the son of Paul and Lottie (Rife) Eads. He was
raised in the Church of God. Ralph is a 1965 graduate of Warrensburg-Latham High School, and
then a graduate, with a degree in Forestry, of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Through his brother Dean and sister-in-law Shirley, Ralph met Linda Millard in Ohio. They
knew they were right for each other, and on July 12th, 1969 were married in Decatur. Ralph and
Linda moved to Mt. Carroll in 1970 as Ralph was beginning his career in Forestry. The fact that
Mt. Carroll had a Church of God swayed their decision of where to begin. They raised two
children and celebrated 53 years of marriage, with Mt. Carroll as their home.

Ralph and Linda belonged to the Mt. Carroll Church of God and to Gideon’s International. He
was a Sunday School teacher and Superintendent for several years. He enjoyed fishing and
hunting, but mostly hunted for turkey, because he could “carry them out on his back”.
Ralph was employed by the State of Illinois as a District Forester for 38 years and retired at
age 60. Then did private forestry consulting for a few years after that. Along with his
employment, Ralph was a co-founder of the Northwest Illinois Forestry Association, NIFA. He
loved his work and the opportunity to be outside most of the time.

Ralph will be dearly missed by his wife, Linda of Mt. Carroll; his daughter, Shawna (Luke)
Houzenga of Mt. Carroll; two grandsons, Paul and Evan Houzenga; and two brothers, Floyd
Eads of Decatur and Dean Eads of Fairborn, Ohio. Ralph is preceded in death by both parents;
his son, Lincoln in 2016; and two sisters-in-law, Shirley Eads of Fairborn OH, and Shirley Eads
of Decatur, IL.