Lyle Robert “Bob” Leckrone, age 87 of Hoffman, passed away on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia. Bob started working at Taners Super Market at the age of 14, he worked Saturdays from 9:00 am until 10:30 pm for $3.96. At the age of 18, he started working for the C&EI Railroad. He passed up a job as a lifeguard at the Salem pool, which he said was a dumb move. He continued to work for the railroad at the yard center on the repair-in-place track. They then moved the yard in Salem and he led the crew until they closed down the RIP track. He then worked on the ICRR switching cars. Then one winter he decided to take a job with UPS and ended up working for them for 27 years. He started Leckrone Guns in 1958 with the motto “they come in as customers, and leave as friends.” He joined the Egyptian Collectors Association in 1958 and took over in 1980. His wife joined in his love of gun collecting and gun shows in 1976. One of his shows in Centralia led them on to become the largest show in Illinois and Kentucky, with the help of friends like Bill Clark, Dallas Chatham, Bob Terry, and the rest of the ECA Dealers. One of his best friends, Terry Dagley sold Modern Income Life Insurance at night, and eventually got Bob to join him in sales. He always said it’s “better to wear out, than rust away.” Bob attended The Rock Church in Centralia. He was a member of the Salem-Marion Lodge #130 A.F. & A.M. “As I step off of this life, and meet Jesus, I leave behind my nine children of whom I am very proud of.”
Celebration of Life services will be held on Monday, December 13, 2021, at 1:00 pm at Crouse Funeral Home in Salem with Steve Upchurch officiating. Burial will follow at East Lawn Cemetery in Salem. Visitation will be held on Sunday, from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm, and again on Monday, from Noon until the time of the service. Masonic Rites will be held on Sunday, at 6:00 pm by the Salem Masonic Lodge. Memorial contributions can be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children in St. Louis and can be received at the funeral home. Online condolences can be made at www.CrouseFH.com.
Survivors include four sons, Danny and wife Mary, Chris, Darin, and Shawn and wife Elizabeth; five daughters, Tammy, Tracy, Tangi, Tawana, and Toni; grandchildren, Amanda, Courtney, Lucas, Margot, Makayla, and Kirsten; great-grandchildren, Mallory, Miles, Mason, Maddie, Logan, Brooks, Graham, and Reagan; brother-in-law, Jeff Edwards and wife Denise; and his beloved dog, Kevlar.
Bob was born at home on September 29, 1934, in Salem the son of Lyle and Irene (West) Leckrone. He married June E. (Edwards) Leckrone on January 4, 1976, in Carlyle, Illinois, and she preceded him in death on July 30, 2021. Bob was preceded in death by his parents; wife, June; and a sister, Betty Baptist.
