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ROBERT G. BANKS
A man of humor and compassion


[courtesy of "Cayuse"]

Grave marker for Robert G. Banks in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Machesney Park (Winnebago county), Illinois.

Robert enlisted in the Army at Camp Grant, IL on 29 October 1942 and was assigned to Company F, 508th PIR.

On 6 June 1944 he was taken prisoner and was liberated by Russian army on 30 January 1945 from German POW Camp.

SSgt Banks was discharged on 30 November 1945 but  re-enlisted on 28 February 1946.  It is not known when he was discharged again.

Enjoyed summer home: Robert G. Banks 'showed us how to live a full life,' a daughter says.

By KEVIN RAYMAN
The Register Star
   MACHESNEY PARK --- When Robert G. Banks retired eight years ago, he bought a summer cabin in Princeton, Wis.
   From April 1 to Nov. 1, he and his wife would enjoy the quiet life in the knotty pine cabin on the bank of the Fox River.
   It was there that Robert satisfied his passion for fishing and planting flowers, said his wife Virginia Banks.
   "He liked the outdoors, and he was always antsy to get up there," Banks said.
   Robert made the coffee and fed corn and sunflower seeds to the birds and squirrels every morning at 8.
   Virginia Banks said she and her husband enjoying sipping coffee and watching the birds nibble o the seeds he had scattered every morning.
   Then he and a neighbor would take his motorboat out onto the river and fish for walleye, bass, croppies and catfish until noon.  He enjoyed "sitting out in the boat," and didn't care whether he caught anything or not, she said.
   Banks died Friday in a Veterans Administration Hospital in Madison, Wis. from complications after heart surgery.  He was 72.
   "He showed us how to live a full life," said his daughter Deborah Tripp.  "He had a way of

 looking at life in a not-so-serious way.  He had a very realistic sense of humor."
   Tripp said he was a loyal parent who "did a lot of things that made his family's home life very pleasant."
   "He was a generous father," Tripp said, "He worked really hard, and everything he did went back into the family.  He made our home wonderful just by the improvements (he made on it)."
   He was also a good employee for Harold Alderks, operation manager at Berol USA in Rockford.  The company makes pencil sharpeners.  "He came from Barber-Coleman in 1970 and retired in 1986.  He was a set up and operator at or punchpress department," Alderks said.
   Banks for known for his sense of humor at work, especially when he told war stories.  Banks was a member of the 508th Parachute Infantry.  He jumped the beach of Normandy on D-day and was imprisoned by the Germans.  "He told the funny side; he could always find the funny side of combat," Alderks said.
   Tim Vipond, a friend and co-worker, said Banks once  said jokingly, "War is a bad place to be if you were cold, hungry or scared and we were all three."
   He seemed to be rough and tough, but he had a compassionate side "He thought a lot about his wife," Alderks said.  "When his mother was sick he watched after her until she died.  He had three daughters and he was very proud of them."

Robert G. Banks

Age: 72
Died:  Friday
Cause of death: Complications from heart surgery.
Occupation: Retired supervisor for punchpress department at Berol, USA, which makes pencil sharpeners.
Services: 11 a.m. today in Sunset Funeral Home, 8800 N. Alpine Road.
Survivors:  Wife, Virginia Banks, Machesney Park; three daughters, Deborah (Dean) Tripp, Dundee; Rebecca (Clancy) Horn, Machesney Park; and Penny (Mathew) Lane, Roscoe; two brothers, Bruce (Jane) Banks, Dakota; and Burton Banks, Rockford; and seven grandchildren.

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