Cyril "C.J." Lehnhardt

Cyril "C.J." Lehnhardt, 92, of Coal Valley, Illinois, died Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at home.

Services are 6:00 p.m. Monday in the Horizon Room at Trimble Funeral Home at Trimble Pointe, 701 12th Street, Moline. Food and beverage will be served at a hospitality visitation from 4:00 p.m. until the time of services. Graveside services are 11:00 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel at Linwood Cemetery, Dubuque, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made The Mayo Legacy Donation Group, 200 1st Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55902, of which he was a member and major benefactor.

Cyril John Lehnhardt was born November 20, 1923, in Dubuque, Iowa, the son of Albert Henry and Bertha Clara (Bergmann) Lehnhardt. He graduated from Dubuque Senior High School. At age 19, he entered the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division ski troop. During World War II, he was sent to the Po Valley and Apennine Mountains of Northern Italy, where he served not on skis, but on snowshoes. He married Doris Milne on March 15, 1958, in Moline, Illinois. She died August 27, 1991.

C.J. worked for seven years as a pattern maker in Dubuque and Chicago before being hired at John Deere Foundry in East Moline, where he worked mainly in the seeding division creating parts for planters. He was with John Deere for 31 years, retiring in 1986.

C.J. as a collector of various things, including trains, model tractors, and old switchman lanterns. He was a member of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, Central Electric Rail Fans Association, Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, Antique Engine Tractor Association, and was a charter member of the Two-Cylinder club (now the Deere Valley Collectors Tractor Club) and the Iowa Chapter National Railroad Historical Society.

Active in the community, he was a member of Colona United Methodist Church, the Coal Valley Masonic Lodge #547, and was a charter member of the Coal Valley State Bank and the Quad Cities Pattern Maker's Federal Credit Union. He served on the Board of Directors for the Blackhawk State Bank in Milan for 25 years, up to the age of 88.

C.J. is survived by nieces and nephews, Dr. Warren and Carla Schmidt of Oxford, Iowa, David Luz of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Debbie Arebalo of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Shelley and Rod Kirsch of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Barbara and Barney Bishop, Richard Lehnhardt and Robert and Carol Lehnhardt all of Dubuque, Pamela Beauchamp of Moline, Illinois, Steven and Cindy Sim of East Moline, and Mary Ann Crimmins of East Moline; many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends that include Diane Beauchamp of Moline, and Jeraldine Clewell of Moline; and a special caregiver, Deborah Chokkalingam of Coal Valley. He was preceded in death by his wife, Doris; brothers, Kenneth and Donald Lehnhardt, sisters, Marcella Luz and Doris Lehnhardt, and nephews, Wayne Schmidt and Gary Lehnhardt.

Visit C.J.'s personal tribute page at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com to share stories and condolences, and light a free candle in his memory.