Donald F. Talbert

Donald Francis Talbert,84, of Freeport died Thursday, September 14, 2017 at his home. He was born on July 27, 1933, the youngest of three children to William R. and Theresa (Meyer) Talbert. He spent his childhood in Lena, IL and graduated from Lena High School in 1951. That year he met Lynette Arlene Schwitz on a blind date and it was love at first sight. From 1953 to 1955, Don served stateside in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict. When he was honorably discharged from the Army, he returned home and started working at Micro Switch at Plant 1 as a technician. He was employed there until his retirement in 1993. On May 4, 1957, he and Lynette were married at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Freeport. In 2017, they celebrated their 60th Anniversary. Don was a diehard White Sox fan, good times and bad. Notre Dame football games were always on in their house and the Fighting Irish had the best armchair quarterback in him. If he had been a gambling man, he could have pulled it in from all the analyzations he did on their games. Instead, he went with the sure thing and visited Casinos. He wrote this for his obituary: "He had a wry sense of humor. He was an inspiration. He was a pillar of strength and a source of comfort to his family." Lynette is still laughing .... He will be greatly missed by his wife and family, including five children, Douglas (Carolyn) Talbert of Freeport, Greg of German Valley, David of Winnebago, Colleen of Minneapolis, MN and Cheryl of Minneapolis, MN. He is also survived by his five grandchildren; Adam (Renee) Talbert of Freeport, Brendan Talbert of Kansas City, Kansas, Evan (Alexa) Talbert of Freeport, Scott Casey Talbert and Cory Talbert of Flower Mound, TX. But the great loves of his life were his great-grandchildren, Collin Talbert of Bemidji, MN, Isabelle, Andrew and Lucca Talbert of Freeport, and Genevieve and Gwenivere Talbert of TX. Don was preceded in death by his parents, William and Theresa, his sister, Arlene, his brother, Richard, and his great-granddaughter, Erin Theresa Lynn Talbert. Private family visitation and funeral Mass will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. Burial will be at Chapel Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established in his name. The family requests the presence of friends and loved ones at a luncheon immediately after services and burial at the O'Neill Center in St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Kiwanis Dr. Freeport, IL at 12:30 pm.