Faye B. VanBellehem

CHARLESTON, IL – Faye VanBellehem, age 98, passed on May 3, 2021 at Hilltop Skilled Nursing.  There will be no services at this time. 

Faye was born December 12, 1922, a daughter of Alva and Oakney (Cotton) Holsapple.  Faye graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a master’s degree.  She married Carlos Nugent in 1945, their union resulting in three children, Rita, Monte, and Karla.  Faye later married Bryce VanBellehem in 1957 and they were married for 33 years.  Left to cherish her memory is her son, Monte Nugent, and wife Linda; her daughter, Karla Hornbeck, and husband David; grandchildren, Brent Conley, Justin Wright, and Jessi Millage; great-grandchildren, Katie Conley, and Sawyer Millage; step-grandchildren, Lisa Peplow, Cory Benge, and their families.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter, Rita Wright, and four siblings.

Faye’s long-time teaching career, spanning 48 years, began in several rural one room schoolhouses where she taught first through sixth grades for 15 years: then an additional 23 years at Jefferson Elementary as a fifth-grade teacher.  After she retired, she moved to Arkansas for several years and relocated back to Charleston where she resumed her teaching career as a substitute teacher for an additional 10 years.  She often spoke fondly about how much she enjoyed her past students.

Faye was a member of the Coles County Retired Teachers Association, Illinois Teachers Association, National Education Association, Red Hat Society, Women of the Moose Charleston Chapter #1175, and a life member of the Charleston VFW Auxiliary.

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