Known to his family as “Dear Old Dad,” Dorance Johnson, a World War II veteran, died on April 19, 2026, at UnityPoint Health-Trinity in Rock Island, Ill., at the age of 103. (Trimble Funeral Homes)
(Tribune News Service) — Known to his family as “Dear Old Dad,” Dorance Johnson died on April 19, at UnityPoint Health-Trinity in Rock Island, Ill., at the age of 103.
“He lived a full life,” Darryl Johnson said of his father on Friday. “He was never afraid of anything. He was not afraid of dying but he wanted to hang on a bit longer.”
Services for Dorance were held Saturday at Trimble Funeral Home at Trimble Pointe in Moline.
“It seemed like he lived a couple of lifetimes in one,” Darryl said. “There are people you meet in life, and it seems like they’ve lived 200 years. You wonder, ‘How did you accomplish all these things in such a short period of time?’ Even though 103 is a long time, he packed a lot of life into them.”
People who collect things seem to be like that, Darryl said.
“Their collections will go on for a mile, and you wonder how they found the time to get all these things and fixed them up. It’s like they didn’t have time for anything else, but they did,” he said.
When he turned 102 in July of 2024, his family and friends celebrated with a luncheon at Fresh Kitchen Restaurant in East Moline.
To help celebrate the milestone, and his service to the country, Dorance was honored at the Rock Island County Board meeting on July 16, 2024.
Col. Joe Parker, Command Master Sgt. James Brown, and Command Master Sgt. Jorge Escobedo from the Rock Island Arsenal attended to present Dorance with a “Piece of the Rock,” a chunk of limestone used in the Arsenal’s building thanking him for his service, and a medallion.
“His is the greatest generation,” Escobedo said at the time. “His generation went through hard times during the Depression, and the majority of them went to serve in the military to fight in World War II, to serve this great country and the world.”
Some of the older Quad-Cities motorcycle enthusiasts may remember Dorance as one of the Quad-Cities’ leading motorcyclists in his day, winning six Canadian and one American hill climbing championships.
A longtime member of the Tri-City Motorcycle Club, Dorance also racked up wins in numerous local, regional and state competitions through the 1950s and 1960s. Stories of him abound in the pages of the Moline Dispatch.
“He had a thirst for life,” Darryl said. “And he was quite the observer of human behavior. He was a people watcher.”
Dorance still was into motorcycle riding well into his 80s, but by then he also was taking on RAGBRAI, participating in the bike ride 19 times.
He even competed in the Senior Olympics for 20 years, earning in 2015 the Quad Cities Senior Olympics Hall of Fame Award.
Born July 28, 1922, in Toulon, Illinois, Johnson was 20 years old when he was inducted into the Army on Sept. 23, 1942.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Dorance went into the military after his older brother, Clayton, joined.
“I remember FDR saying, ‘Our boys will never fight on foreign soil,’” he said in 2024. “And then Pearl Harbor changed that. I knew we were going to war after that. I was stationed in England.”
On Feb. 13, 1943, Dorance completed a course in radio mechanics from the Army Air Forces Training Command while he was stationed at Truax Field in Wisconsin. After another radio mechanics course in Florida, he went to England.
Dorance kept numerous scrapbooks over the years detailing some of his travels in the Army. He kept even more scrapbooks that tell of his competition in motorcycle events. Those scrapbooks contain memories for his children, grandchildren, and future progeny.
After the war, Dorance worked at Deere & Co., beginning his tenure at the John Deere Wagon Works. He eventually became a welder and used that skill on both his motorcycles and to create artwork for his family and friends.
“Many that came out of the war, like my dad, had that need for speed,” Darryl said. “I think that’s why he got into motorcycles. He had no fear. He lived his life wide open.”
Dorance will be laid to rest at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Rock Island National Cemetery. Vietnam Veterans of the Quad Cities will present military honors.
Those wishing to attend are invited to meet in the parking lot at Trimble Pointe from 9-9:30 a.m.
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