Anna C. Treadman, Tavern Co-owner And Landscape Artist, 103

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Mrs. Treadman, previously of Joliet, Illinois, a talented artist and
former co-owner of Earl's Tavern in Joliet, died of complications
related to a heart condition Thursday, February 24, 2005, in her son's
Batavia, Illinois, home, at the age of 103.

When Anna C. Treadman turned 100, her birthday was celebrated with
three parties, one in Naples, Florida, where she spent many winters,
and two in the St. Charles, Illinois, area, close to family and
friends.

"By the time the third one rolled around, she was partied out," said
her son, Jack, with a laugh. "She just looked at me and said, 'Please,
no more parties!'"

Family members said guests at one of the parties brought oil paintings
that Mrs. Treadman had made years earlier.

"Over the years, she'd painted dozens of beautiful landscapes, and this
was a chance for her to see them all one last time," her son said.

The daughter of Italian immigrants, Mrs. Treadman was born and raised
in Coal City, Ill., where her father was a miner.

"Her father was a highly educated man, who came to this country during
the 1800s and worked as a laborer to support his family," her son said.
"He was fluent in several languages, including English."

At age 17, Mrs. Treadman set off on her own and moved to Joliet, where
she took a job in a restaurant.

It was there that she met her husband, Earl, a truck driver at the
time, who with her encouragement enrolled in a trade school and became
a sheet metal fabricator. They were married 70 years, before his death
in 1990.

"Getting an education was always important to her," her son said. "She
never finished high school but was the driving force behind many
people, including myself, to continue in school."

In 1933, Mrs. Treadman and her husband opened Earl's Tavern on the east
side of Joliet.

What began as a small neighborhood bar grew to be a popular family
restaurant after an addition was built and they began offering weekend
entertainment.

"It was a friendly place, where parents and their children were just as
welcome as the person stopping by to have a beer," her son said.

Described as hardworking yet fun-loving, Mrs. Treadman spent most of
her waking hours at the restaurant, tending bar and preparing food.

"The funny thing is that she wasn't like any of the customers, who she
got along with so well," her son said. "She wasn't a smoker and never
had a drink a day in her life."

Until two years ago, Mrs. Treadman was an avid card player and a member
of a club that met four days a week at a senior center in St. Charles.

"She was a real competitor," her son said. "She played bridge, pinochle
and euchre, and she played to win."

After the tavern was sold to relatives in 1954, Mrs. Treadman retired
with her husband. They spent the winters in Naples, North Miami Beach
and Arizona, but maintained a home in Joliet.

Family members said she took up oil painting, a hobby that would become
her passion in later years.

"She never once sold any of her paintings, even though she could have,"
her son said.

"She painted for the pure joy of it."

Other survivors include three grandchildren and six
great-grandchildren.

Chicago Tribune