Former Marine helped others despite medical issues

BY PHIL HARTMAN SVN REPORTER phartman@svnmail.com James LaBonte responded to the needs of others, even when he was in pain from chronic health conditions. "He and a couple other men, after he left ComEd, did roofing jobs on widows' homes, and did other repair jobs," said his wife, Wanda LaBonte. For 10 years, the Franklin Grove man drove fellow vets to the Veterans Association hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. "He'd had a liver transplant 13 years ago, so he usually had an appointment out there himself," Wanda said. James LaBonte died Tuesday at his home in Franklin Grove, at the age of 66, from complications of a liver infection. Born in Chicago, LaBonte served in the Marine Corps in the 1960s, but was unable to fight in the Vietnam War. "He didn't leave the United States. He got very ill with rheumatic fever, and that caused him to have an enlarged heart, which gave him disability for the VA," Wanda LaBonte said. James worked for ComEd as a maintenance man for 26 years, retiring in 1993. He joined a variety of organizations in Lee County, such as the Dixon Optimist Club, Moose Lodge 727 in Dixon, and the Lee County Coin Club. "He would collect old coins, and liked to grade them and look at them. He became quite a good grader," Wanda said. Joe Venier, owner of Venier's Jewelry Store in Dixon, said James was a very likable person. "We used to refer people to him," Venier said. LaBonte also was known for his sense of humor. Wanda said her husband kept his co-workers in stitches, and teased waitresses all the time. "They'd say, 'How was the food.' He'd say, 'Except for the taste ...' He'd say the water was too wet and the salt was too salty," Wanda said.