+++A Celebration of Life open house will be in the Skyroom in the Holmes Student Center on Northern Illinois University campus, 400 Carrol Ave., DeKalb, IL. on Saturday September 21st from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

Please park in 'Visitor Parking' on Carroll Ave. and enter the Holmes Student Center at the Southwest corner (near the scaffolding).   Then take 2 quick rights to access the elevator bays and the Skyroom in on the 16th floor.  Pathways and entrance is fully accessible.

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Philip R. Rider, 82, of DeKalb passed away peacefully with his wife by his side on September 5, 2024, at Oakcrest Health Care Center.

He was born in Mechanicsburg, PA on October 26, 1941, the only child of Beulah (Bretz) and Philip R. Rider Sr.

In 1964 Phil met Paulanne Yott in a Chemistry lab at the University of Dubuque when she asked him how to dry a test tube. The rest is history, Phil and Paulanne were wedded on July 13, 1965.

Phil received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Dubuque in 1965 and his M.S. in English from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. He then spent three years teaching English at East Texas State University in Commerce, TX.  In 1971, Phil and Paulanne moved to DeKalb for Philip to pursue his Ph.D. in English at Northern Illinois University.  After completing his degree, Phil remained at NIU where he worked in several departments as a publications editor until his retirement in 2001.

Phil's passion in life, from a young age, was auto racing and auto race photography.  Nothing pleased him more than being in the infield of a racetrack snapping pictures.  Phil's photos were published in racing and sports magazines.  While he loved sprint car racing on small dirt tracks, his most notable achievement was having a two page spread of a fiery crash published in Sports Illustrated.  In 2016, he was inducted into the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame.

Phil is survived by Paulanne, his wife of 59 years, daughters Kyra Rider of Sycamore, and Rachel (Aaron) Moreno of Lisle, grandsons Ian, Isaac, and Ivan Moreno of Lisle.

Phil was preceded in death by his parents Philip Sr. and Beulah Rider.

A Celebration of Life open house will be in the Skyroom in the Holmes Student Center on Northern Illinois University campus, 400 Carrol Ave., DeKalb, IL. on Saturday September 21st from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.  Interment of cremated remains will occur in a private ceremony at a later date.

To sign the online guest book or share a special memory, go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to The Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the memory of Phil Rider online at sprintcarhof.com or by mail:

Sprint Car Hall of Fame

1 Sprint Capital Place

Knoxville, IA  50135