Francis Benjamin Sterling
Owner and Operator of the Washburn Body Shop

Dad was born Feb.6, 1916 near Tiskilwa, Bureau County, Illinois to Mary Burrell and Lud Sterling. Dad went to high school in Tiskilwa and graduated there. He soon met Mom, Irene F. Carroll daughter of Litha Ann Milby and Ben Carroll.

Dad and Mom married in Muscatine, Iowa Oct. 23, 1939. Dad went into the Army shortly after their marriage. When Dad was in the Army in WWII he went to France and Germany. After his release from the service, he and Mom moved to Varna, Illinois.

When I was a year old we moved from Varna, to Washburn, Illinois. Where Dad owned and operated THE WASHBURN BODY SHOP until 1960 and then he operated the Sinclair Gas Station until his death in 1963.

Dad belonged to the Washburn American Legion Post 661. The Legion Post conducted the graveside rites in Tiskilwa, at Mount Bloom Cemetery where Dad rests. Dad was a strong dad and a family man loved his family. I can remember going to grandmothers house in Tiskilwa for chicken dinner.

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