Dorothy "Dottie" Riddle

Dorothy J. "Dottie" (Bally) Riddle, 96, of Tuscola, passed away at 6:44 pm., Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at the Apostolic Christian Home, Eureka, IL

Funeral Services will be held 11:00 a.m., Saturday, August 22, 2026 at the Tuscola United Methodist Church, 901 North Prairie Street, Tuscola, IL with Rev. Anne Fuquay and Rev. Tony Crouch officiating.

Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the service at the church.

Graveside Services will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Roanoke Township Cemetery, Roanoke, IL.

Memorials may be directed to the Tuscola Community Foundation or to the Tuscola United Methodist Church Endowment Fund or to the Music Department.

Dorothy Joyce Ebinger was born on June 27, 1930 in Carman, Manitoba, Canada, the youngest child of Emil J. Ebinger and Grace S. (Laycock) Ebinger. The family moved to Central Illinois during the Great Depression, and Dottie attended grade school in Metamora, IL and graduated from Washington, IL High School in 1948. She married R. Millard Bally in Metamora in 1949. Four children were born into the couple: Joy, Randall, Joan and Robert. Millard and Dottie raised their family and farmed at Roanoke, until 1968 when Millard Bally was killed in a farm accident. Dottie took over management of the family farms and raised her four teenagers alone.

In 1973, Dottie married J. Myron Riddle and moved to Tuscola, IL. Dottie assisted Myron in his farming operation and cared for him as his health failed. Myron Riddle died in 1998.

Dottie was a member of the Tuscola United Methodist Church, served on the CARE Team, the church council and the Endowment Committee, was an SOS Grief Support Coordinator and volunteered in the church's After-School Reading Program.

She was a 51-year member of the Okaw Valley Home Extension and the Douglas County Farm Bureau for 51 years. Dottie sat on the Board of Directors of the Tuscola First National Bank from 1978-1981 and was also a board member of the Tuscola Community Foundation, serving six years as Ag Representative.

Both Dottie's husbands, Millard Bally and Myron Riddle, had been involved in tractor pulling. Dottie herself was a 20-year participant and a 44 –year member of the Illinois Tractor Pulling Association. Her love of farming is reflected in the notes she left in her obituary: "Ag production was my life. Driving a tractor or in a combine with the sounds, sights, smell of the soil and the harvest were my reward for a year's labor."

Survivors left to cherish Dottie's faith, wisdom and integrity include her children: Joy (Jim) Gradert of Cambridge, IL, Randall Bally of Roanoke, IL; Joan (Dale) Darr of Fairmount, IL, Robert (Carol) Bally of Eureka, IL and stepdaughter: Sue (Joe) Summerville of Tolono, IL. Dottie also had eight grandchildren, 2 step-grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, eight step-great-grandchildren, and 3 step-great-great-grandchildren.

Preceding her in death were her parents, her two husbands, one sister, Margaret Koetz, one brother, Gerald Ebinger and one step-grandson: Tony.

Hilligoss Shrader Funeral Home, Tuscola, IL is entrusted with the arrangements. Online condolences may be shared at www.hilligossshraderfh.com