Nora Jean Twitchell, 85, of Ferris, passed away Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Springfield, Illinois.

Jean was born December 11, 1937, in Carthage, Illinois, the daughter of Elmer J. and Hazel L. (Edgecomb) Franks.  She attended Carthage High School graduating in 1955 and continued to stay very active over the years with her class.  In 1959, she was united in marriage to Conrad Ray Settles, and he preceded her in death in 1972.  In 1975 she married William V. “Bill” Twitchell, and he preceded her in death in 2012.  Jean spent all her free time doing the things she loved most. Spending time with her family and friends was her priority.  Jean loved hard, and played hard too.  Playing golf and bowling was where she was found when she wouldn’t answer her phone.  She met many lifelong friends at the bowling alley and the golf courses.  Together with those friends they traveled to many places and competed in many games.  They had a blast winning, and always had a blast when they lost as well.  Jean was an invaluable asset in the Hancock County Clerk and Recorder’s offices for thirty-seven years.  Jean was the Village of Ferris clerk, an auxiliary member of the Carthage V.F.W., a member of the Carthage Golf Course, and she was always the first person to volunteer to cook, serve, garden, clean, setup, tear down, pass out flyers, donate items, and help in any way to any event she was invited to or involved with.  She took great effort to make sure annual events like the Ferris Fall Weenie Roast happened every year, and that everyone was invited, past and present community members.  Jean enjoyed Wednesday chicken night at D.J.s in Warsaw, Hardees coffee club, the monthly widows’ potlucks, and bar bingo with her friends.  The Legacy Theatre never had a performance she didn’t love.  Jean had a green thumb and spent many hot hours in the kitchen canning her fresh garden produce “just because it didn’t taste good out of a can”.

Jean is survived by her grandchildren, Mandy (Bill) Frakes, April and Shawn Settles and Holly Parker; great grandchildren, Cole, Brody and Madi Frakes, Dalton Settles, Evelyn and Charlie Settles and Aalyiah Parker; daughter-in-law, Nancy Heinecke and special honorary son-in-law, Dennis Heinecke; lifelong best friends, Doris Walton, Nancy Gunning, and Phyllis Vass; and number other relatives and golfing and bowling friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Conrad and Bill; three children, Terry, Charles and Shelly Settles; three stepchildren, Cindy, Lori and Eddie; two brothers, Harvey and Donald Franks; two sisters, Loretta “Katie”  Spurgeon and Evelyn Lovell; and two life-long friends, Sandy Ellefritz and Laura Ann Carle

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 am Tuesday morning, May 2, 2023, at Printy Funeral Home in Carthage with burial to follow in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb.  Visitation will be held from 4:00 – 7:00 pm Monday evening at Printy Funeral Home in Carthage.  Memorials may be directed to the Carthage Golf Club, Legacy Theatre or St. Jude’s Hospital.  Printy Funeral Home of Carthage is in charge of arrangements