Delores A Wildey *
PEORIA, Ill. — Delores Ann (Bjork) Wildey, 66, of Peoria, passed away peacefully with family at her side in Peoria at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, July 18, 2013.
She was born in Tip Top, Magoffin County, Ky., on March 24, 1947, to George “Washie” King and Bessie White.
She is survived by her first husband, Lawrence “Gene” Mann; daughter Sonia Bango (Rick Trosper); son Brian “Wade” (Tracy) Mann; grandchildren Janessa (Jonathan) Carver, Bailey (Travis) Wert, Danny Bango, Jessica Kasa, Brock Kasa, Nicholas Mann, Katherine Mann, Alan Hartung-Mann and Adam Mann; great-grandchildren Sierra, Emma, Skylar, Tylar, Arya and Tiffany; siblings Jason (Gerry) King, Charles “Dan” (Betty) King, Mark (Betty) King, Jerry (Cindy) King, Kathy (Dave) Lenzo, Tommy (Gwen) King and Gary (Karen) King; and brothers-in-law Don Shorter and Jim (Cheryl) Downs.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her daughter, Rachel Leah Mann; great-granddaughter Taylor Leah Hartung-Mann; three sisters, Cristal Lee (Robert) Stineback, Barbara Shorter and Cressia Downs; husbands Delbert E. Bjork and James E. Wildey; and brother-in-law Thomas McMenamin.
She attended Knox High School and completed her GED in 1985. She was an independent woman who lived many years in Elkhart, Ind., and worked as an HR payroll administrator at Rosewood Terrace and as a purchasing agent for Skyline Homes. She also worked as a school bus driver, cashier, cook and owned a cleaning service.
She lived near her daughters for many years and enjoyed spending time with them and helping raise her grandchildren. She loved her family and enjoyed reading, crocheting, sewing, listening to country and bluegrass music and visiting with family and friends.
In 1977 she was baptized at Calvary Temple Church in South Bend, Ind.
She moved to Peoria in 1999 to live with her son’s family and recover from a stroke. The younger grandchildren didn’t see grandma as disabled, they just saw grandma. She earned the nickname “Grandma with a stick” since she used a cane.
After three years she moved out “on her own” and made new friends and even remarried and was widowed again. She enjoyed “attending” Grace Presbyterian Church by watching it on TV each week.
Billings Funeral Home