Tracey Boyle Devore Passes Away

The always-smiling, humorous, friendly Tracey Boyle, 72, has passed away, according to her daughter, on the evening of Halloween 2019. Tracey loved Batman, and I'm certain she would enjoy her final event synced with this costumed holiday. We all are in mourning, and yet celebrate having known this wonder woman of justice.

Tracey was forever popular. At Roosevelt Junior High School, before Gary Devore, whom she would go on to marry, I was one of Tracey's boyfriends.

Moving on to Douglas MacArthur High School, Tracey Boyle got more involved in the broader social life of high school and beyond. She was in French Club 1; Big Mac Day 3; Prom Committee 3; Office Assistant 3; Class Float 2, 3, 4; Student Government Day 3; Homecoming Decorations Committee 4; and Class Council Alternate 4.

In high school, her first car was a 1960 Pontiac Starchief.

After graduating, Tracey studied at Sparks Business College, married Gary (Mac ’65), and eventually moved to the American Southwest. I once asked her why she and so many others in the Class of 1965 moved to locations like Albuquerque, New Mexico, and cities in Arizona. She told me that one Mac '65 person moved there, and through word-of-mouth, other families would follow, based on the good reports of the weather and work.

Tracey Devore found work quickly in the SW. She was a civilian employee of three police departments for 25 years, as a Police Records Division transcriber. She retired as a Police Records Technician with the Glendale, Arizona, Police Department.

Tracey and Gary would end up living in Sun City, Arizona, which is where she was when she died.

Tracey and I would privately message each other about serial and mass killers, attempting to figure some things out and covertly help the authorities. She was always in communication with her old police contacts.

But in the last two years, Tracey began to detail her health concerns at length. In December 2018, she shared with me, in part, that:

...I had an exacerbation of my COPD. My oxygen level was 83, which is bad. I went to a sleep center to see if I have sleep apnea. I didn't sleep all night. When it was over I was really sick and couldn't breathe. They called 911 and I had an ambulance ride to the hospital. I was there five days. They gave me LOTS of prednisone, and shots in my stomach to stop bleeding. (That was proactive.) Anyway I went to the lung unit and was then transferred to the heart unit. They think my heart was weakened by the attack. I didn't go for the stress test (chemical) until next month. So they put me on a no or very low salt diet, limited my fluids, and can have chicken, turkey or fish if it is broiled, boiled, but no breading and nothing fried. I am so limited that it is miserable. I used to love to cook, but not now. Even going to the store is difficult. I can't have anything in a can, frozen, it has to be fresh. I am still tired, but worse. So many doctor appointments. You know how it goes....
Oh, and all the heavy prednisone doses have given me diabetes. So I have to watch sugar for the next three months, then they will test it again. Are we having fun yet???

Tracey's 72nd birthday was on August 26, 2019.

In September 2019, she back channeled me some of the following:

Hang in there, Loren! I have had a copd exacerbation where oxygen was 83%, which was like that for too long. Long enough that it caused heart damage and had only 40% left. Now I have 20% left with heart, congestive heart failure, very low blood pressure (used to be 140/70), but 85/40 now. I've fallen several times, the last was in front of the restaurant where 12 people were waiting on me for my b'day party. Hurt my foot and thought it was broken as the pain was over the top. However, they said it is gout. LOL Gary has had it for 20 years, but I've never had it. Anyway, that's my story. Still in rehab. Haven't been home in 17 days. I got over my stroke almost immediately because I thought it could be one and took an aspirin immediately. It was in my left eye. Was only blind about 5 minutes....
I was in the hospital in Phoenix from 9/3 to 9/13. They sent me by ambulance to this care home/therapy location that is closer to the house. I have been taken care of from 9/3 to 9/26. They are trying to build me up enough to have open heart surgery, to walk again, etc, Starting tomorrow trying to walk. Every time i turn around its something new.

Publicly, on Facebook, Tracey then wrote on October 16, 2019: "Hi...at home, doing fine. Still ornery and positive. :) Gary says to tell you we are hangin' in there. Love you all and thanks for your many prayers."

Then, Tracey stopping writing.

We all sadly will miss her. She was greatly loved by the Class of '65. And she loved Gary and her family so much...

Vicki Hendrickson Coyle Has Passed Away

Douglas MacArthur High School graduate of 1965, Vicki Hendrickson Coyle has lost her battle with cancer. She died on Monday, May 20, 2019, at 11:30 am, local time.

Vicki was born on December 19, 1946, and lived her early years in Decatur.

At MacArthur, Vicki Hendrickson was involved in singing (Chorus as a Freshman, Mixed Chorus and the Music Festival as a Sophomore, and Girls Chorus as a Junior). Also as a Junior, she was a member of Junior Achievement, and as a Senior, with the Office Occupations Club and the Office Occupations Float.

After high school, Vicki studied at Richland Community College/Richland College in Dallas, married, and then lived in Phoenix, Arizona.


Vicki's formal obituary was published on June 8, 2019. Here it is:

Vicki Hendrickson Coyle, 72, died at 11:25 AM Monday, May 20, 2019, at The Seasons Hospice Center in Phoenix, Arizona. She was born December 19, 1946, in Champaign, Illinois, to Kenneth and Vera Hendrickson. She married John Coyle on April 12, 1996, in Phoenix, AZ, and he survives.

Also surviving are her two sons, Phillip Murphy of Phoenix, Arizona, and Bradley Murphy of Decatur, Illinois; three grandsons, Tanner, Nicholas, and Taylor, and one great-grandson, all of Decatur, Illinois; two sisters, Cheryl Harshman of Alta Loma, California, and Janet Drumm of Lutz, Florida; one nephew, Jason Davis of Fontana, California; and two nieces, Stephanie Drumm of Lago Vista, Texas, and Elizabeth Drumm of Lutz, Florida.

Vicki was a long-time resident of Phoenix, where she lived since leaving her childhood home in Decatur, Illinois, in 1989. She graduated from MacArthur High School in 1965 and retired from The Vanguard Group, Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona in 2009.

Vicki loved kids and while at Vanguard she was active with their children's program. She enjoyed life to its fullest and was always happiest when busy; working, traveling, shopping, enjoying her pets, gardening, Saturday morning bargain hunting, and spending time with family and friends.

A memorial service will take place in Decatur, Illinois, at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Vicki's sweet Shih Tzu.

Thanks to Jackie Clark Cole, Millie McCaddon Smith, Donna Maddox, Tracey Devore, and others for sending along the news. Appreciation to Dave Lehman for the obit.

Our condolences to her family and friends.

Jim Klausmeier Passed Away: Info Needed

Jim Douglas Klausmeier, a member of the Douglas MacArthur High School, Decatur, Illinois, Class of 1965, apparently has passed away.

Millicent Smith has heard that our classmate died in the early 1980s, in the Pacific Northwest-Seattle area.

No other information is known, and this is an appeal for any additional data to be shared here with classmates.

At MacArthur, Jim was very involved in activities that may indicate he went into work in fields related to entertainment or the media.

As a Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior, Jim Klausmeier was a member of A.V.A. and the Stage Crew. He was part of the Senior Class Play as a Senior, as well as the Radio Club. As a Junior, he was in the Press Committee.

An initial online search of the Internet has not revealed any hint of an obituary.

Please leave a comment if you know more. Thank you.

The Year 2019 has begun, and it is amazing to reflect that it has been six months since an obituary has been published here.