MARY FORD
ILLINOIS CITY, Illinois – Mary Helen Ford, 53, of Illinois City, Illinois, died Wednesday, July 16, 2008, at Genesis Hospital – East Campus.
Mary was born on July 5, 1955, in Muscatine, the daughter of Richard Eugene and Helen Jurevitz Gorham. She married Ronald Ford on April 25, 1992, at St. Patrick’s Church in Andalusia, Illinois.
She graduated from Rockridge High School in 1973.
She worked at the Rock Island Arsenal from 1973 to 1979, and transferred to Moffett Air Force Base, in Mountain View, California, working there for 10 years, where she met her future husband, Ronald. She transferred back to Rock Island Arsenal in 1989, and was Chief of the Acquisitions Branch.
She was a member of the St. Patrick’s Church.
She was a devoted wife, daughter, sister and aunt. She loved her dog, Val, flowers, shopping and going with friends.
Survivors include her husband, Ronald Ford of Illinois City; her mother, Helen Gorham of Illinois City, one sister, Kathleen Gierlus and husband, Dr. David Gierlus of Illinois City; one nephew, Gregory Richard Gierlus; two nieces, Kelly Marie Gierlus and Kristen Lynn Gierlus; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her father, Richard Gorham on October 3, 1998.