Roger Lynn McBroom, 61 of LeRoy formerly of Fairbury and longtime resident of St. Joseph, IL; died peacefully at 2:15 am, Saturday, February 21, 2015 at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal.
Funeral services will be at 10 am, Thursday, February 26, 2015 at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury. Burial will follow in Chenoa Township Cemetery, Chenoa.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 pm, Wednesday, February 25, 2015 also at the funeral home, Fairbury. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the American Cancer Society or Community Cancer Center of Normal.
Roger was born February 27, 1953 in Fairbury; the son of C. Gene and A. Barbara (Willis) McBroom. He married Linda “Kay” Glore on August 7, 1976 in Belleville, IL. His wife, Kay survives in LeRoy.
Other survivors include his daughter, Jenny (Chris Hoeflinger) McBroom of Champaign; one brother, Ron (Kitty) McBroom of Kingston, IL; two sisters, Diane (Brian Trunk) McBroom of Peoria, IL; Melody (John) Peeples of Houston, TX; four nieces, one nephew and other beloved family members.
He was preceded in death by his parents, C. Gene McBroom and A. Barbara (Willis) McBroom, his niece Gretchen Coleen McBroom, and other infant nieces and nephews and family members.
Roger was a 1971 graduate of Fairbury-Cropsey High School, receiving his B.S. in 1975 and M.S. in 1977 both from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL; in 1980 he received his Ph.D. from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL. He loved farming and was a Soybean Breeder and Senior Soybean Breeding Project Lead for Syngenta Inc.
He was a member of American Soybean Association, American Seed Trade Association and Champaign County Commercial Breeders Association. Roger held over 22 patents for inventions in the field of soybean variety breeding and development.
An online guest book is available to leave messages and condolences to the family at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.
