Richard “Red” William Montague, age 91, of Lombard, formerly of Villa Park, passed away Friday, August 28th at his home. Mr. Montague was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Eileen (nee Lambert) and siblings Donald of Houston, TX, Robert of Caro, MI and Geraldine of Palmer, Alaska. Richard is survived by his children, Maureen Lyons, Cheryl (Roger) Widholm, Mark (Sharon) Montague and Judy Montague; six grandchildren, Alison (Ben) Kautz, Kara (Kevin) Walsh, Laura (Ryan) Switzer, Steven Montague (Meghan Pawlowski), Jenna Montague, and Alex Montague; three great-grandchildren, Nolan, Connor and Owen. Richard grew up in Caro, Michigan, son of Clarence and Parnel (Terry). He was class valedictorian, football quarterback, class president and captain of the football team. Following his 1942 graduation he attended Michigan State University. After his freshman year, he joined the Army Air Corps and trained on the B-25 and B-17 aircraft. The war ended before he deployed overseas. He briefly attended West Point but eventually completed a chemical engineering degree at Michigan State. Richard worked for Acheson Colloids in Port Huron MI, where he met and married Eileen. They moved to Muskegon, MI, then Kalamazoo, where he worked for the Brunswick Corporation. A subsequent move was made to Cleveland, OH, where he worked for the Glidden Paint Company and then to Villa Park, IL where Eileen began working for Eastern Airlines as a reservation agent and later a customer service representative. They moved to Detroit, MI for 10 years and eventually settled in Fayetteville, GA. Eileen continued working for Eastern, allowing them to do some traveling. Richard kept busy working for the Fayetteville School District as a Special Education school bus driver, which he enjoyed greatly, interacting with the students and staff. In 2012, Richard and Judy moved to Illinois to be nearer family. He lived at Sunrise of Lombard and enjoyed socializing with the other residents, playing bridge and having intellectual conversations. As a lifelong avid sports fan, Richard routinely watched with great interest, many college/professional football, baseball, and basketball games. He also enjoyed watching old westerns on TV. Richard has donated his body for scientific research to the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois. No services are planned.
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