Eileen Kaye (Bailey) Hovick

Eileen Kaye (Bailey) Hovick, 84, of Arlington, passed away on April 1, 2026 at OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center-Peru.

Cremation rites have been accorded. Funeral services will be 2:00 PM Saturday, April 11, at the Onarga American Legion. The Hurst Funeral Home in Ladd has been entrusted with her arrangements.

Eileen was born as a twin on August 29, 1941 to Charles Fox and Edith Irene (Scott) Bailey in Onarga. Her twin sister Irene Faye died nine months later. Eileen was raised with eight other siblings. She received her education in Onarga and graduated in 1959. She attended Central Technical Institute in Kansas City, MO and was placed with Northwest Orient Airlines at Midway in Chicago. She worked in operations filing flight plans for the pilots. When they went on strike, she took a job with American Airlines at O'Hare Airport. This is where she met her husband, Arthur Hovick, from Iowa that worked for Braniff Airways. They were married September 23, 1961 in Onarga. They were parents of two daughters, Theresa Irene Hovick-Thomas and Kimberly Ann (Hovick) Nixon. They moved to Onarga after Arthur was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1966. Eileen and Arthur moved to a farm by La Salle-Peru in 2005.

Eileen is survived by her husband of 64 years, Arthur Henry Hovick; her two daughters, Theresa Hovick-Thomas of Peoria and Kimberly (Rob) Nixon of Tucson, AZ; three grandchildren, Valerie Thomas, Logan Nixon, and Landon Nixon; one brother, Richard (Marlene) Bailey of Sadorus; one sister, Wendy Harms of Roberts; sisters-in-law, Dianne Bailey, Sandy Bailey, and Alenora Leiding; brother-in-law, Arvid Hovick; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; six siblings, Charles Orba, Paul Lavern, Dale Jasper, Irene Faye, Harvey Dean, and Francis Eugene; and brothers-in-law, Richard Harms and Glen Leiding.

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