Robert Teichgraeber, age 100, lifetime resident of Collinsville, IL, passed away on March 8, 2021 at Belleville Memorial Hospital.  Born August 22, 1920 at home to parents, Phillip and Emma Teichgraeber.

He was preceded in death two weeks earlier by wife, Rose (nee Barillaro) , whom he had married on May 12, 1951.  Also by brothers, Louis and Phillip Jr. Teichgraeber; and brother-in-law, Angelo Barillaro.

Bob was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  He worked 39 years for National Cash Register Company before retiring in 1981.  During WWII, Bob served in the Air Corp on a new B-24 Liberator Bomber that flew to England in 1943.  His plane was shot down on a mission over Germany, where he became a prisoner of war for 421 days.  He escaped the Germans while on a 500 mile march across Poland and Germany (longest POW march of war).  After returning to Allied Troops, he received seven medals, including a Purple Heart.

Bob was a high fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.  He belonged to four veterans organizations, the NRA, Midwest Coin Shooters and Friends of the Collinsville Historical Museum.  He enjoyed hunting, fishing, metal detecting, fixing clocks and watches, and good food.

He is survived by son, James of Collinsville; two grandsons:  Jeffrey of Florissant, MO and Erick of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Funeral services with full military honors were held March 12, 2021 at Barry Wilson Funeral Home in Maryville with burial at Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery in Collinsville.

As a final request, learning he had contracted the COVID-19 virus, services were limited to protect the family and friends he loved.

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