Travis Odell, 92, formerly of Kingston, IL, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2023 at the Bethany Rehab and Nursing Center in his sleep along side his wife of 34 years.

He was born July 19, 1930 to James and Elsie (Widen) Odell in Lubbock, TX.

He is survived by his wife, Nadine Sportsman, Beisner, Odell; 3 daughters, Donna, Debbie and Dawn; stepson, John (Diane) Beisner of Genoa, IL; stepdaughters, Karen (Tom) Zenkowich of Weyerhaeuser, WI and Connie (Neil) Judd of Lena, IL; his brother, Robert E. (Mary) Odell of TX; many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Edna; one daughter, Gail and 3 siblings.

Travis won a cute kid contest at age 4, graduated from S.F. Austin High School in 1955 and took classes at DeVry technical college.

At 20 years old, he joined the US Navy and served from 8/9/1950 until 6/22/1954 where he received four medals, National Defense Medal, United Nations Medal, Korean Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal.  He was a member of the VFW and American Legion.

He had several jobs after his service.  A bus driver, welder, owned his own garage door company (Automatic Garage Door) and also worked at Ace Coffee Bar.  Travis was a jack of all trades and loved to work in his shop in the detached garage behind his house. He would often treat his neighbors and family to wood creations that were one of kind.

He loved the state of Texas and it showed by the large Howdy sign out in the front of his house.  He would never turn down a watermelon if you offered it to him.  He loved his family, friends, neighbors and pets.  You would often see him walking his dogs or chatting with his neighbor friends.

He met the second love of his life a few years after losing his first wife.  They met on a bowling league and had their first date shortly after.  He fell head over heels in love with Nadine and were married on August 13, 1988.  Travis also liked to go bowling, golfing and making wood pieces.

His visitation will be on Tuesday, July 18th from 4:00-7:00 PM at the Slater-Butala Funeral Home of Genoa with military honors at 5:30 PM.

Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in his name to the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or you can send them to the Slater-Butala Funeral Home, 132 W. Main St., Genoa, IL  60135.

To sign the online guest book, go to www.butalafuneralhomes.com