Warren Billhartz

Billhartz, Warren 79, of Collinsville, IL, born Jan. 3, 1927 in Centralia, IL, died Mon., Aug. 21, 2006.
Son of the late Oliver W. and Marie (nee Engelhart) Billhartz; husband of Marcia Anne (nee Al-lan) Billhartz of Collinsville, IL; father of Ward (Chris) Billhartz of New Baden, IL, Jan Billhartz of Dallas, TX, Jean T. Billhartz of Tustin, CA and Susan Zavaglia of Marville, IL; grandfather of Gar-rett, Shane and Jordan Zavaglia, Taylor Singleton, Chandler Lo-tridge, Danielle and Rachel Bil-lhartz and McCall and Caden Sheetz; brother of Eileen (Olin) Hoffmann of New Baden, IL; dear uncle, great-uncle and will be missed by his loving pet, Shady Francis.
Mr. Billhartz attended public schools in New Baden before joining the U. S. Merchant Ma-rines as a crew member. A vet-eran of two dozen crossings of the North Atlantic, at age twenty, he received his U. S. Coast Guard certificate of regis-try as a staff officer. He also holds the Atlantic War Zone Bar.
Warren later returned to school and graduated from Illi-nois College and Washington University Law School. During law school and for three years after his graduation, he was as-sociated with the law firm of Johnson & Johnson in Belleville. He was a licensed attorney in Il-linois and Missouri.
A former Assistant Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Billhartz was elected to three consecutive terms in the Illinois General Assembly, as Represen-tative from the old 42nd and 55th districts. He served in the Illinois House until 1960, when he did not seek re-election. He was also a charter member and first president of the Clinton County Board of School Trus-tees.
He was a second generation banker and has been in banking since 1954. For 21 years, he was with the First National Bank of Collinsville, as President and then Chairman. He was chair-man and principal stockholder of that bank when it was bought by United Missouri Bank in 1987.
Warren was the Founder, Chairman and principal stock-holder of FCB Banks, having lo-cations in Collinsville, Maryville, Troy, Edwardsville, Highland, O'Fallon, Swansea, New Baden, Albers and St. Louis.
Warren's generous donations and gifts were responsible for the O. W. Billhartz Civic Center in New Baden, Lehrter Commu-nity Park in Albers, the statue at the Police Station and the fu-ture home of the Billhartz Animal Shelter in Collinsville, as well as the Illinois College Stu-dent Investment Fund. In addi-tion, many other charitable or-ganizations benefited from his anonymous donations.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to Collinsville's future Billhartz Animal Shelter. Memorials can be sent to FCB Collinsville Bank, 800 Beltline Road, Collinsville, IL, 62234.Services: Per Mr. Billhartz's re-quest, his body was cremated and a private memorial service will be held. ALLAN & CIUFERI Funeral Home in Collinsville, IL handled the arrangements.