Ross Duane Lake

Ross Duane Lake, 82, of Bonita Springs, Florida, passed from this life on June 25, 2020. Ross was a wonderful man, hard worker, family man. Ross was born in Kincaid, Illinois, on September 27, 1937, to Ross Cyrus Lake and Francis Opal Buckles Lake. Ross was raised in Taylorville, Illinois, where he delivered newspapers for the Taylorville Breeze-Courier. He graduated from Taylorville High School in 1955 and received a degree in Industrial Engineering from Millikin University in 1959. Ross married Phyllis Ann March in 1958. After college, Ross and Phyllis moved to Berwyn, Illinois, where he worked for Western Tire. Ross and Phyllis then moved to Decatur, Illinois, where Ross worked many years for Wagner Castings Company. In 1984, Ross and a group of fellow employees purchased Wagner Castings from the Wagner family, and Ross served as CEO. Later, Ross served as COO, then CEO, of Sudbury Inc. Ross and Phyllis retired to the beach in Bonita Springs, Florida. Ross touched many lives during his time here. He coached little league baseball, taught neighborhood kids how to tell time, served on several boards, received recognition as a foundryman, met with President Reagan, loved to watch boxing matches, made his family have a push-up contest on Thanksgiving mornings, doted on his wife, children and grandchildren, stuck to his values, and lit up the room when he entered. Ross and Phyllis spent their later years in Bonita Springs, Florida, played tennis (tennis at 9, beach at noon, happy hour at 5, and dinner at 8), had pillow fights with his grandchildren, and was full of life. Ross’ children and grandchildren won the Dad and Grandpa lottery. Ross was a life-long die-hard Cubs fan and enjoyed very much the extra inning game 7 victory in 2016 when the Cubs finally won the World Series. Ross leaves his sons, Steven D. Lake, of Hollywood, Florida, and Douglas S. Lake (Stacey), of Mt. Zion, Illinois; daughters, Elizabeth “Lisa” Hoffman (Keith), and Melissa “Missy” Butts (Steve), both of Bonita Springs, Florida; grandchildren, Stephanie Coneybear, Stacy Kump, Sadie Lake, Rachel Henderson, Emily Marchione, Riley Kraus, Hannah Lake, Scott Lake; brother, Terry Lake; sisters, Debbie Howard and Fran Muller; as well as 6 great grandchildren Ross was preceded by his parents; sister, Delores; wife, Phyllis; his daughter, Marcie; and his son, Gregory. Words cannot describe how blessed this world was and is by his time here. He even started a family cheer, “We don’t, we don’t, we don’t mess around, Hey!” Services are private, which breaks the family’s heart even more. Memorials to Alzheimer’s Association of America. Arrangements are being handled by Shikany's Bonita Funeral Home, Family Owned and Operated Since 1978.

Ross Duane Lake

September 27, 1937 - June 25, 2020