Mabel Ruth WHALEN

  Noted events in her life were:

• Obituary: Pantagraph, Bloomington, 1995, Livingston County, Illinois, USA. Thursday, December 21, 1995
PONTIAC - Mabel R. Ryerson, 71, of Pontiac died at 5:40 a.m. Wednesday (Dec. 20, 1995) at St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Pontiac, the Rev. E. Edward Higgins officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Pontiac. Visitation will be 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Harris-Martin-Burke Funeral Home, Pontiac, with a Christian wake service at 8:30 p.m. Memorials may be made to Boy Scout Troop 76, Pontiac; Boy Scout Troop 142, Clinton; or the Livingston County Public Health Department Cancer Fund.

Surviving are one daughter, Janet R. Johnson, Normal; one son, Paul K. Ryerson, Clinton; two sisters, Anne Whalen, Pontiac, and Agnes Miller, Evansville; and one brother, Joe Whalen, Pontiac.

Also surviving are one son-in-law, Gary D. Johnson, Normal; one daughter-in-law, Julie Ryerson, Clinton; four grandsons, Doug Johnson, Cory Ryerson, Jeremy Ryerson and Eric Ryerson; and one sister-in-law, Hannah Whalen, Pontiac.

Her parents preceded her in death.

She was born March 4, 1924, in Sunbury Township, Livingston County, the daughter of Joseph "Joe" A. and Mabel F. (Bartlett) Whalen. She married Paul K. Ryerson Sept. 24, 1947, at St. Mary's Rectory, Pontiac. He died March 28, 1959.

She went to Willow Country School in Esmen Township and was a 1942 graduate of Pontiac Township High School. She worked for J.C. Penney in Pontiac from 1942 to 1950 and then returned in 1959 until the store closed in 1993. Mrs. Ryerson was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Pontiac, where she taught CCD for 12 years, and Daughters of Isabella.

Mabel was active in the Boy Scouts of America since 1961. She started with Cub Scouting and earned her Wood Badge Beads in 1978. Five years later in 1981, she was awarded the District Award of Merit from the former Vermillion Valley District. In 1983, Mabel received the Arrowhead Award for Commissioner Service and the Scouter's Key, which is the Outstanding Commissioner Award. On May 29, 1986, W.D. Boyce Council of Boy Scouts awarded Mabel the Silver Beaver Award, the highest award given to a volunteer by the council.

• Cemetery: Saint Marys Cemetery, Pontiac, 1995, Livingston County, Illinois, USA.

Mabel married Paul Kenneth RYERSON, son of Adolphus "Duff" RYERSON and Mayme BRINKMAN, on 24 Sep 1947 in Pontiac, Livingston County, Illinois, USA. (Paul Kenneth RYERSON was born on 10 Nov 1921 in Illinois, USA and died on 28 Mar 1959 ¹.)