A former Eastern administrator died on Monday night.

Jimmy Shonkwiler, budget director at Eastern from 2003 until his retirement in 2007, passed away late Monday at O.S.S. St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Bloomington, McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling said.

University spokesperson Vicki Woodard said Shonkwiler and his wife Penny had recently flown into Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal where they had returned from a vacation in Florida.

Kimmerling confirmed the two had been driving to their home in Champaign when Shonkwiler began suffering a medical episode while behind the wheel of the vehicle.

Mrs. Shonkwiler was able to successfully stop the vehicle without injury to herself, Kimmerling said.

He was then taken to O.S.S. St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Bloomington where he was pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m. Monday.

He was 63 years old.

Kimmerling said an autopsy has not and will not be performed and a review of medical records will be necessary in order to confirm the cause of death.

Before his hiring at Eastern in 2003, Shonkwiler held the position of faculty specialist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He also owned and operated his own business producing kettle corn machines and training people to set up their own businesses and operating the machines, Shonkwiler said in a February 2003 Daily Eastern News article.

Calvert-Belangee-Bruce Funeral Home of Farmer City is tentatively handling the services, which should be held at a later date, a representative of the funeral home said.

Shonkwiler was born Sept. 19, 1945 in Champaign. He married Penny Huchel on June 20, 1988, in Mahomet.

He is survived by his wife, Penny, of Champaign; daughter Shawn McLaughlin of Ottawa; two grandchildren, Declan and Lena McLaughlin, also of Ottawa.

Shonkwiler was preceded in death by his parents and one brother.

David Thill can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].