Wyman P. “Bill” Deck, co-owner of the historic Deck’s Drug Store in downtown Girard, Illinois, died Monday at age 91 at a hospital in nearby Springfield.
A Girard native, Deck was a pharmacy technician at the store and formerly was a librarian at Auburn Public Schools in nearby Auburn, Illinois, according to an obituary in the Springfield State Journal-Register.
Bill’s brother Bob, also a co-owner of the store, died in 2013 at age 82.
Deck’s Drugs at 133 S. Second St. in Girard later became known as Doc’s Soda Fountain and Deck’s Pharmacy Museum. The site was just a stone’s throw from Illinois Route 4, the old alignment of Route 66 before the highway was realigned to the east during the 1930s.
Here’s a video of the Deck brothers at the store from a few years ago:
Among the many clubs Deck was a member was the Illinois Route 66 Association.
The Deck brothers’ grandfather started Deck’s Drug Store in 1884. Bob Deck was the third generation in the business when he became a registered pharmacist and co-owner with his brother Bill in 1960. The soda fountain dates to 1929. The Decks also maintained displays of old drugs and pharmacy equipment.
Bob Deck retired in 2001. When Bob and Renae Ernst bought the drugstore building in 2007 and renamed it Doc’s Soda Fountain, the Decks loaned them their pharmacy collection. Doc’s Soda Fountain became a popular stop for Route 66 travelers and nostalgia buffs.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Davis-Anderson Funeral Home in Girard. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Girard Cemetery.
(Image of Bill Deck at Doc’s Soda Fountain courtesy of Geoff Ladd)