Albert T. Viar 1923-1985

Quincy Herald Whig, July 29, 1985 - Albert Viar, former Liberty fire, police chief dead at 61

Liberty, Ill. - Albert T. “Ab” Viar Sr., 61, formerly chief of the Liberty police and fire departments, died unexpectedly at 5 a.m. Sunday (July 28, 1985) in Quincy’s Blessing Hospital.

Mr. Viar was born Aug. 14, 1923, in Clayton, a son of Owen and Emma Allensworth Viar. He married Ruth Hodges June 27, 1942. He later married Betty Staffy Brown, July 7, 1985, in Griggsville. She survives.

Mr. Viar was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church. He was a 32nd-degree Mason and a member of the Eastern Star Masonic Lodge of Liberty and the Liberty Lions Club.

Mr. Viar was an employee of the Gardner-Denver branch of Cooper Industries in Quincy for 33 years. He retired in August 1979. He was a policeman in Liberty for 30 years. He served as the Liberty Police and Fire Chief and deputy coroner. His career was marked by the May 30, 1980, robbery of $15,000 from the Farmers Bank of Liberty by John Larry Ray. Ray was later captured.

Surviving are four sons, Albert Viar Jr. of Quincy, Leroy Viar of Sullivan, Charles “Pepper” Viar of Nashville, Tenn., and Ronald “Corky” Viar of Liberty; three daughters, Mrs. Judy Saxbury and Mrs. Betty Jo Brown, both of Tulsa, Okla., and Mrs. Mary Sheurman of Liberty; two brothers, Robert Viar and Raymond Viar, both of Quincy; a sister, Mrs. Goldie Robbins of Camp Point; two stepsons, Carl Brown of Griggsville and Charles Brown of Champaign; a stepdaughter, Mrs. Carolyn Sims of Jacksonville; 21 grandchildren; two stepgrandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, and an infant son.

Services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Zion Lutheran Church in Liberty, by the Rev. Warren Gritzke and Rev. Bill Renner. Burial will be in Xander Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Liberty Fire Department.