Obituaries

Ian Richard Tichelbaut passed peacefully on July 26, 2026, surrounded the past three weeks by family.  Ian was a good human and a wonderful man, the kind of person our world needs more of.

Ian was born March 20, 1984, in Lake Forest, Illinois and his life’s journey took him from St. Charles, Illinois to Bedford, Texas, the coast of Florida and Northern California, and the hills of Indiana.

Of Ian’s 42 years, he lived a full life while managing the ongoing challenges of a 38-year battle with aplastic anemia, multiple chemotherapies, a bone marrow transplant during the pandemic, metastatic melanomas, and pathological fractures.  He was a warrior in this battle for life and never gave up hope for the possibility of healing and health.

Always a mariner at heart, Ian’s journey included positions at Scout Sea Base in Florida and Modern Sailing in Sausalito, CA.  While living aboard his cherished sailboat he earned his Sailboat Captain’s License and started his own marine rigging and repair business.

Ian is carried in our hearts as a man who lived and died on his own terms.  He was a man of many interests, always learning as he traveled and collecting rare keepsakes of ancient times.  His grasp of history, science, and mythology led him to share “we live in a fantastic universe, I am looking forward to exploring more of it!”  He was smart, funny, and caring – he will be missed, and not forgotten.

Graveside services with family and close friends will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery in Geneva, IL, returning Ian to his boyhood home along the Fox River.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the AAMDS Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome International Foundation.

In loving memory of Ian…always kind and wise.

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