Ben A. Compagnoni Obituary (1926 - 2015)

Ben Compagnoni died peacefully on April 20, 2015 in Rockton, at 89. Ben was a loving and devoted husband to Betty (Hamborg) Compagnoni for 59 years. Ben was a first generation American, son of Sam Compagnoni and Elvira DiRuscio, and raised in Chicago Heights, Illinois, at depth of the Great Depression. He left home by way of the Army Air Corps in 1944 and celebrated VJ Day on a liberty ship en route to Hawaii. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Northern Illinois University through the GI Bill, met Betty, and were constant companions for the rest of their lives. They married in 1951. After teaching at the Glenwood School for Boys, Ben left to teach industrial arts at Onarga High School in Onarga, Illinois. In 1954, Ben and Betty welcomed their son, Ben Jr., to their lives in Onarga and moved to Rockton in 1955. Ben taught at Hononegah High School and coached football, basketball, track, and golf. In 1957, Ben and Betty added their daughter Barbara and settled in a small home on Bridge Street. After five seasons as the frosh-sophomore coach, he was named varsity football coach in 1960, winning the Shark Conference Championship in 1960 and 1962. In 1964, Barry was added to the family and Ben left Hononegah the following year for East High School. The Compagnoni family moved to East Warren Street in 1968. Ben continued coaching football and won accolades for leading the junior varsity E-Rabs through three consecutive undefeated seasons. Ben retired from teaching in 1984 and he and Betty sold real estate for a few years with the Hopkins Agency. They spent several winters with Milton and Norma Hamborg in Southern California before finding a comfortable snowbird nest at The Resort in Mesa, Arizona, spending nearly many comfortable winters in the company of their many friends from the Rockton area. Barbara's death in 2004 was the lowest point of his life, but Ben continued to travel extensively with Betty, and visited Barry and Sheila multiple times in Hawaii (and elsewhere). Betty predeceased Ben in 2011 after a short battle with cancer. Ben was many things to many people: devoted husband to Betty; proud father to Ben (Brenda), Jr., Barbara (Scotty Phillips), and Barry (Sheila); loyal son to Elvira DiRuscio and Sam Compagnoni; loving grandfather to Tanysha, Beki, Michael, Shelley, Kate, Madeline, Maggie, Emma, and Molly; uncle to Pamela, Donna, Beth, Jeanelle, Peter, and Charles; great-grandchildren Jake, Alexandra, Amelia, and Cade; respected coach to generations of football, basketball, baseball, and track athletes in Rockton and Rockford; helpful neighbor to the Vicks, Hardenberghs, Becks and many others; active President of the Rockton Lions Club and Lifetime Member of the Lions; avid golfer at the Macktown Golf Course with Newell Lovejoy and Ed Griesman; teacher and lifetime member of the National Education Association; Member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Rockton United Methodist Church. He loved his Italian heritage, food, and traveling. He left a big wake through life. The Coach will be loved, remembered, and missed. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, June 1, 2015 in Rockton United Methodist Church, 102 West Chapel, Rockton, Illinois with Pastor Megan Smick officiating. Following burial in Roscoe Cemetery, a celebration of life will be held at the Walter Graham American Legion Post #332, Rockton, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ben's memory to Northern Illinois Hospice, 4215 Newburg, Road, Rockford, IL 61108 and Rockton Lions Club, PO Box 90, Rockton, IL 61072