Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday morning for former Macomb Mayor Bob Anstine. He passed away Friday, April 27 in Springfield, IL. He was 81.
Clugston-Tibbitts Funeral Home said visitation will be held Wednesday, May 2, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Masonic services will be held at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, and funeral services will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church on Thursday, May 3, 10:30 a.m.
Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb.
Anstine was elected mayor in 1973 and was re-elected six times, serving until 1991.
He is credited with helping start the city’s annual Heritage Days celebration and he helped establish the Macomb Area Economic Development Corporation. And he was mayor when Macomb began its Flags of Love display.
In November, 2017 he was honored for his role in starting the flag display in Chandler Park. After the ceremony, he told Tri States Public Radio, “I’m proud of this community and the park and everybody for pitching in and making it happen.”
He thought the display might last for a couple years and had no idea it would grow to more than 800 flags.
Anstine, who served in the Air Force from 1959 to 1965, called the Flags of Love “an All-American activity.”
