James William Metz

James William Metz passed away on April 17, 2024, in Peoria, IL surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren.

Jim was born April 10, 1943, to Simon and Hortense Metz and welcomed into the world by his twelve older siblings. He grew up on a farm in Riverside, Iowa and in 1961 graduated from Riverside High School. Following his passion, he went on to major in Art at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa. Jim enlisted and served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam war. While home on leave he proposed to his high school sweetheart, Rajet “Jaye” Kron, and two weeks later the pair were married at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the presence of 200 guests. After Jim’s military service he settled his family in Rock Island, IL, where he worked for the U.S. Post Office. In 1970 Jim was hired by the Rock Island Fire Department - the “best job I ever had,” he would often remark. While raising his three children: Scott, Julie and Michelle, Jim achieved a degree in Fire Science at Black Hawk College in Moline, IL.

In 1979, Jim relocated his young family to Way Out Farm Road in Aledo, IL, where he established a family farm that came to be known as Green Acres. Jim raised crops of corn and hay and built a herd of two hundred sheep and Boer Goats, guarded by vigilant Great Pyrenees dogs. Over the years, Green Acres proved a home for all manner of livestock - from cows and pigs, to mules, llamas, peacocks, and geese. Jim bred beautiful Pyrenees puppies and made friends with their new owners. All this he achieved while working every third day with the fire service, where he steadily moved up the ranks to become a Captain. Jim retired after 27 years on the department, then became a Lockman on the Mississippi River with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. During this ten-year tenure he became the first Emergency Coordinator for Mercer County under Homeland Security and created the first working instructive emergency manual for the county. He retired from both of these assignments in 2008. Jim, however, never retired from his most important job as a husband, father, and grandfather. He enjoyed time spent with his growing family and kept up painting and sketching, fishing, birdwatching, carpentry, beekeeping, gardening, storytelling, neighboring, and pulling pranks on his grandchildren. His youngest granddaughter only recently learned his middle name was William and not “Wonderful” ...though all agreed that it should be.

Jim will be greatly missed by his wife of 59 years, Rajet; his son Scott (wife Michelle); his daughters: Julie and Michelle; his grandchildren: Miranda, Claudia (husband Thomas Pellet), Alexander, Victor, Marcus, Julian, Ava, Peter, and Danielle; his sister Ann Walsh; and his many nieces and nephews. Jim was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers: Urban, Elmer, Edward, Melvin, Jerry, and John; and his sisters: Gladys Kron, Vivian Kleinschmidt, Dorothy Brophy, Donna Stumpf, and infant sister Mary Angela.

Visitation will be held Monday, April 22, 2024, at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory in Rock Island, IL, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., with the funeral immediately following at 11:00 a.m. (view the livestream at www.wheelanpressly.com/rock-island-live-stream). Burial with military honors will be conducted at the Rock Island National Cemetery on Arsenal Island.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Illinois Association of Retired Firefighters or the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Online condolences may be sent to Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory at www.wheelanpressly.com.

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