A funeral will be held Thursday, June 29, 2023 for 74-year-old Jim “Bopper” Mollet Sr. of Red Bud, Ill., who passed away at 10:56 p.m., Sunday, June 25, 2023 at Elmwood Nursing and Rehab, Maryville, Illinois.
He was born November 7, 1949 to William and Luella (nee Naeger) Mollet on November 7, 1948 in Red Bud, Ill.
Jim married Ruth A. Korando on August 5, 1972 at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Renault, Ill. She survives in Red Bud.
He is also survived by two children: James A. Mollet Jr., Red Bud, Ill. and Carrie (Randy) Burgdorf Chester, Ill.; three siblings: Mike (Donna) Mollet of Red Bud, Ill., Paul (Dorothy) Mollet of Waterloo, Ill., and Kathy Taylor of St. Louis, Mo.; six grandchildren: Cory Mollet, Byngirmin Mollet, Savannah Burgdorf, Cassie Burgdorf, Miranda Burgdorf and Spencer Korando; a sister-in-law: Diane Mollet of Red Bud, Ill.; a sister-in-law: Diane Mollet of Red Bud, Ill., a brother-in-law: Wally Korando of Nashville, Ill.; nephews and cousins.
He was also preceded in death by two sisters: Mary Bievenue and Patricia Korves, a brother; Jerry Mollet and two brothers-in-law: Ronnie Bievenue and Kenny Taylor.
Jim loved his family and always said “family first”!
As a young man, he loved to race his car and party with his friends. He loved to fish, hunt and horseback ride. Jim loved the great outdoors and cowboys.
He started working at an early age helping farmers and earned 50 cents a day bailing hay.
His first steady job was working at Singer Furnace factory. That is where he was working when he met Ruthie at the Log Cabin dance hall.
In 1973 he got a call to work at Peabody Coal Company, an underground mine in Baldwin. He was so proud of that job and met some lifelong friends there. The mine closed around 1992 and he got a job working at G&S Foundry in Red Bud.
In 1996, he was involved in a car accident that changed his life forever.
He then worked for Belleville Shoe Factory.
Jim then got a call that a mine had opened up in Kentucky and he stayed there with an old coal mining buddy and the family visited on the weekends.
In 2006, he was diagnosed with cancer and decided to retire from the coal mine, not certain of his health.
He did recover and went to work in 2009 at IMT and Weirs.
In 2017, he worked at the Chester Grade School as a custodian and as a security guard for Red Bud Hospital.
Jim was a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Red Bud, Illinois.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Pechacek Funeral Home in Red Bud, Illinois.
A funeral for 74-year-old Jim “Bopper” Mollet, Sr. of Red Bud, Ill., will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 29, 2023 at the Pechacek Funeral Home in Red Bud, Illinois. The Rev. Cory Hartz will officate.
Memorials may be made to family choice.