Giles Weigandt

Giles Ronald Weigandt, 82, of Moline, IL, died Monday, July 06, 2015, at Silver Cross Nursing Home at Friendship Manor, Rock Island, IL.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 10, 2015, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1330 13th Street, Moline, IL. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, 2015, at Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue, Moline. Burial will be at Greenview Memorial Gardens, where military honors will be provided by Moline American Legion Post 246. Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church in Moline, a local humane society, or to Handicapped Development Center in Davenport, IA.

Giles was born on August 7, 1932, in Moline, IL, one of 6 children of Arnold and Hannah Schiller Weigandt. He was a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island in 1956 with a master's degree in psychology. Giles worked as a mortuary assistant for Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., Moline, from 1985, retiring in 2010. Prior to that, from 1957 to 1973, he was the manager of Weigandt's Meat Market and Specialty Store that was located on 7th Street in Moline. He was also a well-known handwriting analyst and consultant to lawyers, police, and the public.

Giles was a United States Army veteran, having served in the Korean Conflict from 1953 to 1955. He was a member of the Moline VFW and the Moline American Legion.

Giles was a life member of Trinity Lutheran, where he had been a choir member for 62 years and served for several terms on church council and various task forces. He was also a church soloist at many churches in the area.

Since its founding in 1949, Giles had been active in Quad City Music Guild through 1977 and sang in 35 of their productions. He had been a member of Metropolitan Opera Guild since 1955. He was also a funeral soloist for many of the area funeral homes.

Giles studied commercial art and graduated from the Art Instruction Inc. of Minneapolis. He was a speaker to hundreds of area groups on handwriting analysis and a teacher of handwriting analysis since 1971 at area community colleges and adult education facilities. He was president of Illowa Handwriting Analysis Club since 1970 and a member of the American Association of Handwriting Analysts. Giles conducted workshops for other professional graphologists and wrote an instruction book on handwriting analysis which was used in teaching classes. Often, he would volunteer for programs on handwriting analysis at various nursing homes and hospitals.

Giles traveled in every state plus several foreign countries. He was the family historian and kept many local pictures with family going back to the 1890's, including historical notes and pictures on Moline's 7th Street area. He kept large book and record libraries at his home. Giles was an artist and painted many landscapes.

Survivors include his brothers and sisters, Dale Weigandt, AZ, Pat (Bob) Kleinsmith, East Moline, IL, Janice Allinger, GA, and Randy (Penny) Weigandt, Moline, IL.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Corrine Tiedge.

Memories may be shared online by visiting esterdahl.com.