Larry Hillbloom

Larry Hillbloom, 67, of East Moline passed away peacefully, with his wife by his side, May 31, 2025 at Unity Point, Rock Island after a very brief battle with the “C” word as he would call it (Cancer).

A Celebration of Larry’s life will be 1:00-3:00 Saturday, June 14th at Schroder Mortuary in Silvis. Memorials may be made to one’s favorite charity.

In 1979, Larry learned early on from his mentor, whom he respected tremendously, the values, determination and hard work it would take to start his career as a millwright and carried them forward for 34 years. In 2013, Larry retired as a Journeyman Union Millwright from Local 2158. He wore many hats and held many titles and worked for several contractors throughout the Quad Cities. He excelled in every aspect of millwright work and was well known for his precision, work ethic, stubbornness and no-nonsense attitude. He believed in, ABC, 123 and standing firm for what he believed in – even when it wasn’t the most popular or easy thing to do. He loved to build things and if something wasn’t plumb, straight and level he accepted the challenge and fixed it- whether it was his yard, a structure or a situation.

Larry lived life on his own terms-a simple man, honest, direct, and fiercely devoted to the people he cared about, he will be deeply missed.

Larry is survived by his wife, Chris, the one person who truly saw him, loved him, and walked every road beside him whom he married July 16th, 2001. Together they built a relationship of respect, deep love, and shared joy in the simple things- camping, fishing, bonfires and many, many late-night talks which involved beer, listening to their favorite music and hanging out at home where he just liked to “do and be”.

Larry is survived by Chris’ children, Justine Klick, Aj (Mariann) Klick and Kayla (Devin) Baker along with several grandchildren. His brother-in-law, Chad Tomlinson, his favorite, Aunt Shirley and a close circle of friends. With respect, he is also survived by his mother Jean, sister Chris Ohl and her son Jeremy, and daughter Melissa and her children.