Melba J. Stromer

Moline, Illinois Melba Stromer age 87 of Moline died Saturday, March 17, 2001 at Park View Health Care, East Moline. Funeral Services will be 10:00 AM, Thursday in Trimble Funeral Home, Moline with burial at Riverside Cemetery, Moline. Visitation will be Wednesday from 3:00 to 7:00 PM at the Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Angela Stromer Surgery Fund. The former Melba Jeanette McCann was born January 26, 1914, in Rock Island, Illinois. The daughter of Leslie and Amy (Wilkinson) McCann, she was one of thirteen children. She married Herbert LeRoy William Stromer on May 12, 1931 at the Cambridge, Illinois Courthouse; he died September 18, 1973. She was a loving and beloved full-time wife and mother, staying at home to raise her daughters and help care for her granddaughters, except during World War II, when she supported the war effort by working as a machinist's helper at the Rock Island Lines Silvis shops, alongside her husband, Herbert. Melba worked for many years as a campaign and election volunteer for the Democratic Party. She was an advocate of the humane treatment of animals and was a member and supporter of several organizations devoted to animal protection. Melba was an avid card player, and enjoyed fishing with her husband, and spending time with her family. She will be sorely missed by all. She is survived by her daughters, Jeanette Peters and Kathleen Stromer both of Moline, four granddaughters, Patricia Page, Janet and Richard Serre, Mary and Todd Petersen and Angela Stromer, all of Moline, four great-grandchildren, Sanford Hotchkiss of Dallas, Texas, James and Amber Hotchkiss, William and Susan Serre, and Emily Petersen all of Moline, a great-great-grandson, Hunter Van Hotchkiss of Moline, a god-daughter, Carolyn and Michael VandeVelde of Moline, three sisters, Josephine and Charles Kirby of Rock Island, Katherine Onemus of DeWitt, and Edna and Russell Griffiths of Golden, Colorado, a brother, Lloyd and Shelba Lawson of Coal Valley, a sister-in-law, Carol Lawson of Moline, a brother-in-law, Harold Wells of Rock Island, and many beloved nieces and nephews. Her husband, brothers, Harold McCann and James Lawson, sisters, Margaret Stromer and Hazel Wells preceded her in death, along with four infant siblings. END OF OBITUARY