Rickey 'Rick' Wayne Rivers

Rickey Rick Wayne Rivers, 71, of Danville passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on May 27, 2023, at OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center, Danville. He was born February 3, 1952, to William Herschel and Joan Marie (LaMar) Rivers. He attended Westville schools and on August 19, 1972, married his high school sweetheart Debbie Anele Smith and were able to celebrate 50 years of marriage enjoying many life adventures together. Their family was complete with the birth of their son Alan Ray in 1977. In his younger days, Rick enjoyed gardening, hunting, fishing, and camping with his family. Rick worked as a core passer in the foundry at General Motors. He retired at age 44 when the plant closed and thoroughly enjoyed his laid-back lifestyle after that. Rick had a great philosophy on life-never get in a hurry. For being a quiet man, he could talk for hours about classic cars or endlessly about his favorite vacation destination-Las Vegas. Rick is survived by his wife; son, Alan (fianc Jodie Lynne); his brothers, Jeffrey Rivers and Timothy (Bridgette) Rivers; his sisters, Rebecca (Greg) Samet and Penny Rivers; and special sister-in-law, Judy (Ed) Barton; as well as many nephews, great nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and in laws Andrew Steamboat and Barbara (Becky) Smith. A celebration of Rick's life will be 1:00pm, Friday, June 2, 2023, at Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Westville, Illinois 414 S State St. Westville, Illinois 61883 with Rev. Tom Meyers officiating. Visitation will be held 11:00am to 1:00pm on Friday prior to his service at the funeral home. He will be laid to rest in Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Westville. Memorial donations may be given to the donors choice of charity. Please join his family in sharing memories through his Tribute Wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.