George W. Toft, 85, of Cambridge died Monday, May 3, 2010, at his home.
Cremation rites have been accorded and a memorial service was held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 8, at the Cambridge Chapel of Stackhouse-Moore Funeral Services. Inurnment services followed at Rosedale Cemetery, Cambridge, with military honors. Visitation was held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Cambridge Ambulance Service or the Geneseo or Kewanee Humane Societies.
He was born Sept. 7, 1924, in Chicago, the son of William and Hulda Toft. He attended schools in Chicago and graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1942. He was first married to Kay Palmer. She died in 1983. He then married Irene Martin Pickens May 15, 1990, in Cambridge. He served in the US Navy during World War II. He attended Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College in Fort Collins, receiving a bachelor’s degree in forestry.
He worked for the US Forestry Service and then went to work for the Rock Island Arsenal, retiring as Chief of Ammunition Management in 1979. After his retirement he moved to Cambridge.
His memberships include the First Baptist Church of Cambridge and the Cambridge American Legion Post No. 417.
He was a Chicago Cubs and Bears fan and enjoyed watching all sports. He had been active in community development in Cambridge after his retirement.
Survivors include his wife, Irene; three stepdaughters, Patricia May of Shelbyville, Mo., Barbara Johnson of Rock Island and Susan Pickens of Cambridge; a stepson, Robert Pickens of Davenport, Iowa; two granddaughters; five stepgrandchildren; two great-grandsons; six stepgreat-grandchildren, and a sister, Mary Mitchell of Springfield, Va.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife; a daughter, Kelli Thorne, and a son, William “Bill” Toft.
