Sallie Traynor

Sallie Traynor passed away peacefully Friday, March 5, after a long and brave battle with cancer.

Sallie was born September 17, 1949, in Jacksonville, Illinois, the oldest daughter of James and Wilda (Billie) Cooper.

Sallie, as a young adult, was a free spirit who came of age in the 1960s. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in social work and was employed by the University as a research assistant in child psychology. She returned to her hometown where she and her husband Lance managed commercial printing operations at the Breeze-Courier. She and Lance lived and worked in Florida for a time and later came back to Taylorville and were employed in procurement with the State of Illinois.

Sallie had an abundance of intellectual curiosity about any subject in which she was engaged. She enjoyed genealogy and the preservation of family history. She was a gourmet cook, a colorful gardener and a creative seamstress with a flare for style and presentation. She loved to entertain, and she collected cook books and fine china. . .lots of cookbooks and china. She liked to travel and read history and was an articulate conversationalist on many topics.

She was a flutist, appreciated music of all types and had an interest in early folk instruments. She greatly enjoyed hosting her foreign exchange students from Brazil and later visiting their home country. And, she loved her dogs. Rarely did you find her without a pair of spaniels over the last five decades. She was known as "Aunt Sallie" to her nieces and nephews whom she loved as her own and nurtured over the years.

She was fiercely loyal, funny, kind, and fiery at times.

Sallie is survived by her husband of more than 40 years and also her best friend, Lance W. Traynor; mother Wilda (Billie) Cooper; brothers Jim (Shirley) and Bob Cooper; sister Marylee Cooper; mother-in-law Alacoque Traynor; brothers-in-law Stuart (Barbara) Traynor, Pat (Denise) Traynor, Mike Traynor; sister-in-law Mary Jane (Ernie) Dryer; many nieces, nephews and their families; and her beloved dogs Louie and Sophie. She was preceded in death by her father James Cooper, her grandparents James and Bertha Cooper and John and Bernice Quinn; her father-in-law Stuart Traynor Sr., and sister-in-law Ann Traynor Witsman.

Private family burial services will be held at the Buckhart Cemetery in Cooper Township where many of Sallie's ancestors, who were early pioneers in the area, are interred. Sallie will be laid to rest as bagpipers retreat into the countryside playing 'Going Home.'

Shafer-Perfetti and Assalley Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.