Stanley Porter Summers

Stanley Porter Summers, 90, of Urbana, died peacefully on Sunday, April 30, 2023, at Meadowbrook Health Care Center in Urbana.  He was born on January 19, 1933, in Moberly, Missouri to Porter and Irene (Fickes) Summers.  They proceeded him in death.

He married Jill (Greene) Summers on June 17, 1956, in Huntsville, Missouri. She proceeded him in death in 2001. He graduated from Huntsville High School and attended one year of college at the University of Missouri, before joining the Navy where he was stationed in the Mediterranean.  Upon return, he graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Physical Education.

Stan and Jill settled in Urbana in 1959, where Stan received a master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois, studying under Dr. Robert K. Cureton. Stan and Jill have three children, Stephen (Janet), Michael (Mary), and Martha (Gene Romero), seven grandchildren and two grandchildren in-laws.

Stan worked as a PE teacher and coach in the Urbana School District from 1961 to 1994.  He coached girls’ basketball, boys’ swimming, boys’ tennis, boys’ track, and taught drivers’ education.  He was inducted into the Urbana High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2002.  He and Jill lived abroad in Rainow, England, for a year where he did a Fulbright exchange at Kings School in Macclesfield. Martha joined them on this exchange, where they met many life-long friends.

Stan was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana and Laborers’ Local 703. He served on the Champaign County Board from 1972 to 1978 and was a Democratic precinct committee person, fulfilling a life-long interest in politics.  He served as a simulated patient for the U of I College of Medicine, playing the perfect “difficult patient.”  He was a Master Gardener. Stan loved to travel, taking trips to China, Turkey, and Europe after retirement.  He loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. 

A private graveside service will be held for family and friends.  Memorial contributions can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana.

The family wishes to send special thanks to the staff of Meadowbrook who took excellent care of him in the last two years.

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