Rodney Bliss Rountree

Rodney Bliss Rountree, 78, of Seymour, Illinois, passed away on April 19, 2020.  

A celebration of Rod’s life will be held on a future date and to be announced after the pandemic has subsided.

Rod was born in Centralia, Illinois, on November 30, 1941, and grew up in Nashville, Illinois, where he excelled on the track, baseball, and basketball teams.  He graduated from Nashville Community High School in 1959, and from Western Illinois University in 1963, where he majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry, played on the basketball team, and was a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. 

He married Susan Schrock on August 15, 1964, in Lockport, Illinois, where Rod taught at Taft School.  They were married 55 years, settling in the central Illinois area in 1965, where they soon became active members of the community.  

Rod worked for Ciba Geigy/Novartis for 38 years.  Over the years, he was a youth sports coach, Little League commissioner, the Voice of the Bulldogs at Mahomet Seymour High School, and a board member of the Illinois Equine Foundation.  He loved caring for his horses, watching Illini sports, and spending time with his 5 children, 10 grandchildren, and the many neighbors who visited the horse barn. He will be greatly missed by his community.

He is survived by his wife, Susan; his children Rebecca (Paul) Yergler, Michael (Kate) Rountree, Amy Rountree, Mindy (Aaron) McBride, and Jillian Rountree; and his grandchildren Kasey Hollowell, Jonathan Williams, Kourteney (Jordan) Shoemaker, Kathryn Ingram, Nathaniel Williams, Kevin Ingram, Jay Williams, Karley Yergler, Gannon Rountree, and Tavish Rountree; and many other family and friends.

Rod was preceded in death by his parents, Bliss and Helen Lorene Rountree.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Illinois Equine Foundation and the Mahomet Seymour Athletic Boosters, PO Box 83

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