William Ralph 'PeeWee' Horning of Harrisburg

It is with great sadness that the family of William Ralph "PeeWee" Horning announces his passing on July 14, 2018, at the age of 82.

PeeWee will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 59 years, Judith Hicks Horning, and his daughters, Melody Horning Ossi and April Horning. He will be fondly remembered by his grandsons, Matthew and Connor Ossi.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph "Tubby" Horning and Wanda Dismuke Horning, and his brother, Kenneth "BoBo" Horning.

PeeWee was born in Harrisburg on Aug. 22, 1935, where he lived almost his entire life. He is a Harrisburg High School graduate and obtained his Associate Degree from SIU-Carbondale. He worked as an advertising salesman for the Daily Register for many years and ended his career as a vault keeper for Harrisburg National Bank, where he took pride in keeping customers happy with fresh popcorn.

His passion for the HHS Bulldogs inspired him to run the clocks and scoreboards for football games, baseball games and girls and boys basketball games for nearly two decades. He also found the time to run the clock/scoreboard for Malan Junior High School and Southeastern Illinois College basketball games. His community contributions include volunteer fireman, swim team coach, Scoutmaster and girls' softball coach. He was an avid Cubs fan all his life and was overjoyed that he lived to see them finally win the World Series.

One of his biggest joys was riding around town on his array of scooters, for which he was considered by his friends to be a "Harrisburg legend". He could be seen each morning riding his scooter to Hardee's to meet his buddies for coffee or stopping off for his daily fire department visit.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 19 at Reed Funeral Chapel in Harrisburg. Jeffrey Drake will officiate a celebration of his life at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of PeeWee can be made to Hospice of Southern Illinois, 204 Halfway Road, Marion, IL 62959.