Mary Ann Speck

Mary Ann Speck, beloved and devoted wife of Edward J. Speck, passed on from this world to the next, on Monday, August 13, 2018. She was born in in a two room log cabin in Gallatin County, Illinois 87 years ago. She and her brother endured the premature death of their father, and an eventual adoption required by their mother's diagnoses with Typhoid Fever. Luckily, both she and her brother were adopted by loving parents, John and Mary Bateman. She married the love of her life, Edward in a holiday wedding at University Place Christian Church on December 23, 1960. She is survived by Edward, as well as a cousin, Edward Bateman, of Florida. She graduated from Champaign High School in 1948 and then attended classes for two years within the School of LAS of the University of Illinois. She worked for a short period at Flanagan-Pearson Printing Company before finding her niche at the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Illinois, where she remained until her retirement in 1988, with 36 years of service. She dearly loved the faculty and fellow staff members of her department. Mary Ann was very active in the Rebekah Lodge, serving in numerous offices throughout her long association. She and Edward remained life-long members of University Place Christian Church, where she served as a deacon and was a devoted chancel choir member since 1947. Her passions included needlecrafts, scrapbooking, and a lifelong interest in journaling and writing, eventually taking classes at Eastern Illinois University to hone her novel writing skills. A graveside service and interment will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery of Champaign, at 2:00 PM on Thursday, August 16, 2018. A celebration of her life will occur in early August at University Place Christian Church (the date is yet to be scheduled). Donations in honor of Mary Ann may be made to the University of Illinois Foundation or to University Place Christian Church.