John Edward Verbout, Jr., 73, passed away at home on June 1, 2017 at 3 a.m.in Normal, Illinois. John was born in Kewanee, Illinois on May 14, 1944 to John Edward Verbout, Sr. and Josephine Norton Verbout of Neponset, Illinois, and attended Neponset Grade and High Schools. In high school he met Melanie Holmes, his life-long love.

He is survived by his wife Melanie and two sons, Scott, Chandler, Arizona; and Shawn (Joan), Amherst, New Hampshire; his granddaughter, December Verbout, Tempe, Arizona; his parents; two brothers, Jay (Barbara) Verbout, Mahomet, Illinois; and Jerry (Cindy) Verbout, Fulshear, Texas; two sisters, Carol Leininger, Bradford, Illinois; and Judy (Gordon) Connor, Farmington, Illinois; and many beloved nieces and nephews. Teresa Schuelke, Chandler, Arizona, was like a daughter to John, and Bernie Dunn was like a brother.

John and Melanie began married life in Peoria, Illinois, in 1962 where John worked for Swan Lake Cemetery, Tractor Supply Co. and the U.S. Post Office. After his sons were born, he enrolled at Illinois State University and graduated with his B.S. in Business Education in 1968. He taught bookkeeping and typing, and coached basketball and football at Kewanee High School.

He returned to I.S.U. for graduate work in geography, then began working as an accountant at the university. In 1970 he went on to further graduate study in geology at Montana State University, followed by a return to I.S.U. to work in accounting as an assistant bursar. He supervised the cashiers’ office full-time for twenty-nine years and worked part-time eleven more years after retirement in 1999, for a total of forty years.

John was very proud of his staff and viewed them as friends as well as colleagues. He also often said that he had excellent supervisors, and they were friends as well. During his life he believed in trying to learn more about the world, and to that end he loved reading about banking, investing, history, geography, science, and travel. He especially loved visiting the mountain states of the West and Northwest. He read more than five hundred books during retirement and took many memorable trips with Melanie throughout the United States. He also enjoyed trips with his friends, the Taylors and Schertzes, and with his friend Doug. Planning trips were his happiest times.

He believed in following The Golden Rule all his life. He loved his family and being with them. He cherished and respected his mother and father, and he was proud of Scott, December, Teresa, Shawn, and Joan. Most of all, he loved his wife of fifty-five years.

Per his wishes, he will be cremated and laid to rest in a private service at Floral Hill Cemetery in Neponset, Illinois. Memorials to honor John may be made to Illinois Cancer Care, 3105 Magory Drive, Bloomington, Illinois, 61704. A celebration of John’s life will be held on Saturday, June 17 beginning at noon at the I.S.U. Alumni Center, Room 116, 1101 N. Main St. Normal, Illinois.

Online condolences and memories of John may be shared at www.calvertmemorial.com.