G. William Horsley, 85, of Springfield died Sunday at Memorial Medical Center.
He was born July 15, 1910, in Creal Springs, the son of the Rev. Otto and Della Schafer Horsley. He married Mary Pauline Surman in 1932; she died in 1965. In 1979, he married Anna Bell Rourke.
Mr. Horsley attended the University of Illinois and earned his law degree from Lincoln College of Law in Springfield in 1935. A resident of Springfield since 1931, he was employed by WTAX radio.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he served as general counsel for the Progressive Mine Workers for more than 40 years. He practiced law before the U.S. Supreme Court and many U.S. District Courts. Mr. Horsley was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1946 and served 20 years before being elected to the state Senate in 1966, retiring in 1972. While in the House, he was chairman of the Campus Riots Committee and became an honorary member of the Dental Society for his work on the fluoridaton bill for public water supplies.
He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" at New Salem State Park for 19 years and appeared as Lincoln in Washington, D.C., and in movies and on television.
In 1946, he was a co-founder of Two by Two Sunday School at First United Methodist Church, which he taught for 40 years. He also founded the Governor's Prayer Breakfast and the first Easter Sunrise Service in cooperation with Springfield Council of Churches.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, International Cosmopolitan Club, Ansar Shrine and Ansar Shrine Clown Band, Navy League, American Legion, VFW, and a charter member of Amvets. Mr. Horsley belonged to the American Bar Association, Sangamon County Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Survivors: wife, Anna Bell (Jo); a daughter, Mrs. Richard (Judy) Lott of Springfield; a son, Capt. G. William Horsley Jr. of Pensacola, Fla.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, Harold Horsley; and several nieces and nephews.
Services: First United Methodist Church, the Rev. J. Gerald Nichols officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - July 17, 1996
He was born July 15, 1910, in Creal Springs, the son of the Rev. Otto and Della Schafer Horsley. He married Mary Pauline Surman in 1932; she died in 1965. In 1979, he married Anna Bell Rourke.
Mr. Horsley attended the University of Illinois and earned his law degree from Lincoln College of Law in Springfield in 1935. A resident of Springfield since 1931, he was employed by WTAX radio.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he served as general counsel for the Progressive Mine Workers for more than 40 years. He practiced law before the U.S. Supreme Court and many U.S. District Courts. Mr. Horsley was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1946 and served 20 years before being elected to the state Senate in 1966, retiring in 1972. While in the House, he was chairman of the Campus Riots Committee and became an honorary member of the Dental Society for his work on the fluoridaton bill for public water supplies.
He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" at New Salem State Park for 19 years and appeared as Lincoln in Washington, D.C., and in movies and on television.
In 1946, he was a co-founder of Two by Two Sunday School at First United Methodist Church, which he taught for 40 years. He also founded the Governor's Prayer Breakfast and the first Easter Sunrise Service in cooperation with Springfield Council of Churches.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, International Cosmopolitan Club, Ansar Shrine and Ansar Shrine Clown Band, Navy League, American Legion, VFW, and a charter member of Amvets. Mr. Horsley belonged to the American Bar Association, Sangamon County Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Survivors: wife, Anna Bell (Jo); a daughter, Mrs. Richard (Judy) Lott of Springfield; a son, Capt. G. William Horsley Jr. of Pensacola, Fla.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, Harold Horsley; and several nieces and nephews.
Services: First United Methodist Church, the Rev. J. Gerald Nichols officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - July 17, 1996
G. William Horsley, 85, of Springfield died Sunday at Memorial Medical Center.
He was born July 15, 1910, in Creal Springs, the son of the Rev. Otto and Della Schafer Horsley. He married Mary Pauline Surman in 1932; she died in 1965. In 1979, he married Anna Bell Rourke.
Mr. Horsley attended the University of Illinois and earned his law degree from Lincoln College of Law in Springfield in 1935. A resident of Springfield since 1931, he was employed by WTAX radio.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he served as general counsel for the Progressive Mine Workers for more than 40 years. He practiced law before the U.S. Supreme Court and many U.S. District Courts. Mr. Horsley was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1946 and served 20 years before being elected to the state Senate in 1966, retiring in 1972. While in the House, he was chairman of the Campus Riots Committee and became an honorary member of the Dental Society for his work on the fluoridaton bill for public water supplies.
He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" at New Salem State Park for 19 years and appeared as Lincoln in Washington, D.C., and in movies and on television.
In 1946, he was a co-founder of Two by Two Sunday School at First United Methodist Church, which he taught for 40 years. He also founded the Governor's Prayer Breakfast and the first Easter Sunrise Service in cooperation with Springfield Council of Churches.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, International Cosmopolitan Club, Ansar Shrine and Ansar Shrine Clown Band, Navy League, American Legion, VFW, and a charter member of Amvets. Mr. Horsley belonged to the American Bar Association, Sangamon County Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Survivors: wife, Anna Bell (Jo); a daughter, Mrs. Richard (Judy) Lott of Springfield; a son, Capt. G. William Horsley Jr. of Pensacola, Fla.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, Harold Horsley; and several nieces and nephews.
Services: First United Methodist Church, the Rev. J. Gerald Nichols officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - July 17, 1996
He was born July 15, 1910, in Creal Springs, the son of the Rev. Otto and Della Schafer Horsley. He married Mary Pauline Surman in 1932; she died in 1965. In 1979, he married Anna Bell Rourke.
Mr. Horsley attended the University of Illinois and earned his law degree from Lincoln College of Law in Springfield in 1935. A resident of Springfield since 1931, he was employed by WTAX radio.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he served as general counsel for the Progressive Mine Workers for more than 40 years. He practiced law before the U.S. Supreme Court and many U.S. District Courts. Mr. Horsley was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1946 and served 20 years before being elected to the state Senate in 1966, retiring in 1972. While in the House, he was chairman of the Campus Riots Committee and became an honorary member of the Dental Society for his work on the fluoridaton bill for public water supplies.
He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the play "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" at New Salem State Park for 19 years and appeared as Lincoln in Washington, D.C., and in movies and on television.
In 1946, he was a co-founder of Two by Two Sunday School at First United Methodist Church, which he taught for 40 years. He also founded the Governor's Prayer Breakfast and the first Easter Sunrise Service in cooperation with Springfield Council of Churches.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, International Cosmopolitan Club, Ansar Shrine and Ansar Shrine Clown Band, Navy League, American Legion, VFW, and a charter member of Amvets. Mr. Horsley belonged to the American Bar Association, Sangamon County Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Survivors: wife, Anna Bell (Jo); a daughter, Mrs. Richard (Judy) Lott of Springfield; a son, Capt. G. William Horsley Jr. of Pensacola, Fla.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, Harold Horsley; and several nieces and nephews.
Services: First United Methodist Church, the Rev. J. Gerald Nichols officiating. Burial: Oak Ridge Cemetery.
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) - July 17, 1996
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