Poplar Grove, IllinoisJohn H. Maitland, 63 of Poplar Grove, IL died early Tuesday morning, June 22, 2010 in University Hospital, Madison, WI after a lingering illness.John was born April 3, 1947 in Belvidere, IL the son of Milton Maitland and Marguerite (Stenerson) Maitland. He attended Northern IL University and additional course work in waste water management. John was the City Engineer for Poplar Grove. He was veteran of the US Army being stationed in Germany. John was a baseball enthusiast. He coached baseball for forty years and number of which were at North Boone high School, gave private batting lessons and kept impeccable stats. John truly loved each of his baseballstudents, they were like his kids; see Matt Trowbridge's blog to read more on John's baseball achievements at http://blogs.e-rockford.com/matttrowbridge/2010/06/22/former-north-boone-coach-dies.John was also an avid student of the Civil War. He traveled many times to the battlefields and was considered by many to be an expert on the subject. He loved a good debate on politics and studied his favorite U.S. Presidents, including Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan. John was often requested to speak at Rock Valley College in special seminars on presidential subjects. John was also inducted into the Boys and Girls Club of America Hall of Fame. He was a very friendly person, quick witted and had a great sense of humor that will be missed.He is loved and will be missed by his cousins, Sally (Jack) Richey, Patsy (Dennis) Fayard, Lynn (Amy) McConnell, Mary Ann (Bruce) Guy, Karen Sue (Larry) Levy; nieces, Shannon, Tiffiny and Lisa; sister in-law, Sarah Maitland. John is predeceased by his parents, brother, Gary and cousins, Nancy Proctor, Loyd Woods and Don Maitland.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the Boys and Girls Club of America or Poplar Grove United Methodist Church in John's memory.