©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Father of Local Politician Passes Away |
You might say a Galesburg man and and father of a local politician was a bit of an inspiration, especially during the last decade of his life.
George Bacon died Saturday morning at the age of 80. He's the father of Knox County Board Chairman Greg Bacon, and is survived by his wife three other sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
But it was what he did in the latter years of his life that many can admire. Bacon, in 2010, graduated from Carl Sandburg College at the age of 78 -- the oldest graduate in the college's history.
On the day of commencement in 2010, Bacon told WGIL after retiring from Maytag and later General Motors he came back to the area 12 years prior, and started taking college classes on a whim.
"I wanted something to do and I wanted to learn something about electricity so I went out to Sandburg," Bacon said. "And they said I had to take a math class. So I took the math class, I took the electrical course, and I took a machine shop course."
But, Bacon didn't want to stop there.
"I'm going back to Sandburg for a foreign language, and eventually try to get into Knox."
Bacon eventually did get accepted to Knox College, which he says made more sense cost-wise than traveling to other schools in the area.
Bacon's obituary states he had just completed his first year at Knox, with a 3.0 Grade Point Average.
A memorial service for Bacon is Friday at 10 am at the First United Methodist Church in Galesburg, with a visitation the evening before at Hinchliff-Pearson-West in Galesburg. |
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| 07 03 12 by Newsroom |
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