Lillian "Sunny" Tedell

Lillian “Sunny” Tedell, 93, of Moline, passed away, Monday, October 5, 2020, at Centennial Rehab and Healthcare, Moline.

Graveside service will be held 11 a.m., Monday, October 12, 2020, at Riverside Cemetery.  Memorials may be made to Salem Lutheran Church or the Animal Ade Humane Society, Moline.  Attendees are expected to wear a face mask.  Esterdahl Mortuary, Ltd., Moline, is assisting the family.

Lillian was born on August 19, 1927, in Moline, the daughter of Clarence C. and Ruth (Johnson) Sundquist.  She attended the old Lincoln Elementary, John Deer Junior High School, then graduated from Moline High School in 1945; a member of the “Greatest Generation”.  She married Martin J. Tedell in 1947, with whom she had three daughters, Sara, Anne and Laura.  She was active in her daughter’s activities, attending their tennis matches, golf outings, and theater productions.  She was also the President of Lincoln Schools PTA, achieving a lifetime award.  Sunny was a member of the Junior Women’s Club Junior Service League, Colonel Davenport House and a 70-year member of Salem Lutheran Church.  She was a charter member of the Catfish Jazz Society and a six-year board member.

Sunny had been active in dramatics in school and performed in Playcrafters and Mary Fluhrer Nighswander Theatre in later years.  She loved and collected music of her favorite musicians, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald from high school to today.  In later years, the “Fabulous Foursome” went traveling to Tony Bennett, Joe Williams and to all four points, antiquing, lunching and playing bridge.

She loved to entertain friends and family always on tradition of the holiday or season.  Antiquing always gave her collections of china a boost, and she enjoyed using her favorite to set a lovely table.  Her special breakfast for the group was “Labor Day on the Patio”.  The loss of her friends as they aged was devastating.  Her holidays were for her family, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter.  Christmas was the Swedish traditional feast, and she used her Swedish decorations.  Swedish pancake recipes were passed to her grandchildren.  Sunny was so proud of all her family.  Some of her favorite past times were taking trips to Wisconsin and Florida and having daily talks with her lifelong best friend, Heidi Christiansen.  Heidi and Sunny were inseparable and both thoroughly enjoyed all of the time they spent together.  Her special Double cousins were the joy of her life, traveling to Georgia for visits starting at the age of 17.  She was able to play bridge throughout the years and that helped her mind stay sharp.  Her daughter Sara’s tragic accident at the age of 16 changed her life forever.

A special thank you to Heidi Christiansen, Jayne Pearson, and Cindy Verhagee for their many years of friendship.

Survivors include her grandsons, Blake (Katie) Enloe and their children Beckett and Krüe, and Ben (Samantha) Enloe and their daughter Raegan; son-in-law, Doug Kaiser, sister, Mildred Lenaghan; & cousin, Jay Wilson.

She was preceded in death by her daughters, Anne Kaiser, Laura Enloe, and Sara Goembel.

Memories may be shared on the tribute wall.