Verne Erdman
Verne W. Erdman, 92, of Chenoa, passed away at 6:22 p.m., Feb. 22 at Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community, Chenoa.
A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m., Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Chenoa. Rev. August Lubkeman will be officiating.
Inurnment will take place at Chenoa Township Cemetery.
Friends may greet the family from 1-3:00 p.m. on Saturday, also at the church.
Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Chenoa is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that memorials be made to Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community or to St Paul Lutheran Church, both in Chenoa.
Verne was born Sep. 7, 1922 in Bloomington, the son of William and Etta (Schwager) Erdman. He married Mildred L. Smith June 8, 1946 in Decatur. She preceded him in death on Dec. 31, 2011.
Survivors include his sons, Richard (Merline) Erdman, Sterling, Ill.; James (Susan)Erdman, Chenoa, Ill.; Steven (Gina) Erdman Barrington, Ill.; and daughter-in-law Jan Erdman, Webster Groves, Mo. 13 grandchildren, Nat (Beth) Erdman, Maggie Erdman, Amanda Erdman, Corinne (Jarod) Nye, David Erdman, Michael (Danielle) Erdman, Katie Erdman, Sam, Grace, Charlie, Anna, Claire and Jack Erdman, and six great-grandchildren; two brothers, Myron (Neta) Erdman Chenoa, Ronald (Dorothy)Erdman Chenoa.
He was preceded in death by his parents; son William Erdman and brother Dale Erdman.
He graduated from Chenoa High School and attended the University of Illinois, where he was a member of FarmHouse fraternity. He was a life-long farmer in the Chenoa area. He was a salesman for many years selling insurance for Lutheran Brotherhood, and Life of Kentucky. After that he had a long career as a salesman for Central Illinois Harvestore, working with farmers.
Verne and Mildred lived in rural Chenoa till 1975, when they moved to Lake Bloomington, where they enjoyed living until the fall of 2010. He enjoyed talking to people and being in the Lake Bloomington Association.
He was a lifetime member of St Paul Lutheran Church and a member of the choir for more than 50 years. He served on the Chenoa Unit District 9 school board.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community for their compassionate care of our father.
Condolences and tributes may be made to the family at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.
Charles Farney
Charles J. Farney, 70, of Pontiac, went to be with the Lord at 6:25 p.m., Feb. 22 at Good Samaritan Home in Pontiac.
His funeral will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Colfax. Pastors Roger Davis and Jarrod Bartholomew will be officiating.
Burial will be in Wiley Cemetery, Colfax.
Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m., Friday also at the funeral home and one hour prior to services on Saturday.
Memorials may be made to the family.
Charles was born Nov. 10, 1944 in Fairbury the son of Warren and Ruth Eloise Downing Farney.
Surviving are his children, Troy Farney of Forrest, Todd (Alona) Farney of Pontiac, and Tammy (Delbert) Trease of LeRoy; grandchildren, Tory, Tyler, and Erin Farney, Kayla (Rob) Ramseyer, Kendra Farney, Austin and Sabastian Trease; great-grandchild, Wyatt Ramseyer; siblings, Rev. James (Sharon) of Frankfort, Ind., Rev. Gerald (Brenda) of Mahomet, Rev. Martha (Jerry) Benningfield of Fulton, Mo., and Rev. Boone (Karen) Farney of Sullivan and nine nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Carol Murrell.
Charles as a veteran of the United States Army, serving during Vietnam.
He was a printer for the Pantagraph and then retired from Wackenhut Security.
Charles was a member of the Church of the Nazarene where he enjoyed serving the Lord.
Chsrles loved spending time and playing board games with his family and friends. He was a loving father and grandfather and will be dearly missed by all.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the staff at Good Samaritan for the care of Charles.
Condolences and tributes may be made to the family www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.
Marlene Kupferschmid
Marlene Ann Kupferschmid, 76, Pontiac, died at 5:24 a.m. Feb. 22 at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday at the Apostolic Christian Church, Forrest with ministers of the church officiating. Burial will be in the South Apostolic Christian Church, rural Fairbury.
Visitation will be 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Thursday at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Fairbury and 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. Friday at the church. The family suggests memorials be given to Fairview Haven Retirement Community, Fairbury or the charity of the donor’s choice.
Mrs. Kupferschmid was born Jan. 14, 1939 in Fairbury the daughter of Alton and Sally Paternoster Schieler. She married Orville Kupferschmid on March 29, 1958 in Fairbury. He survives in Pontiac.
Other survivors include three daughters, Karen (Mark) Therien, Chenoa, Karla Doubler, Lafayette, Georgia, Kathy Cribbitt, Pontiac, five grandchildren, one great granddaughter, two brothers, Harvey (Jan) Schieler, Duane (Diane) Schieler and one sister, Sandy (Dale) Stoller, all of Fairbury.
She is preceded in death by her parents, one sister and one daughter.
Mrs. Kupferschmid was a graduate of Fairbury-Cropsey High School. For 50 years co-owned and operated Kupferschmid Appliance, Forrest & Pontiac working as a secretary and appliance sales. She was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church, Forrest.
Marlene loved to spend time with her children, grandchildren and great granddaughter and she always loved helping others.
An online guest registry is available at www.duffypilsmemorialhome.com.
Eric Sly
SSG Eric Stephen Sly, 47, of Fort Benning, Ga., passed away suddenly at 5:06 p.m. on Feb. 17 of natural causes at Martin Army Community Hospital in Fort Benning.
His funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday at Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home in Bloomington. Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m. on Friday prior to the service at the memorial home. Full Military Honors will be conducted. Cremation rites will follow. Eric’s cremains will be interred at a private service at a later date in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Macomb. Eric will be laid to rest beside his father he never knew, finally together for eternity.
Memorials may be made to the Eric Sly Memorial Fund.
Eric was born on March 31, 1967 in Fort Lewis, Wash., a son to Lt. Richard and Sherry Lynn (Metcalf) Sly.
He is survived by two daughters, Marina Lewis of Keene, N.H. and Morgan Sly of Barrington; his mother; two sisters, Tiffany Sly and Faith (Jason) Edmunds; two nephews, Stephen Sly and Eli Edmunds; a niece, Lucy Edmunds, all of Bloomington-Normal; and an aunt, Ginger (Metcalf) Reese of Texas.
He was preceded in death by his father who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1969.
Eric graduated from Rushville Senior High School in 1985. He joined the Army in 1985 serving with the 502 Infantry Division, Berlin Brigade. He returned to civilian life after his tour of duty, residing in Macomb.
Following 9/11, he re-enlisted serving with the 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. He served two deployments in Afghanistan. He was an Airborne Instructor “Black Hat”, for the 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment at the US Army Airborne School, Fort Benning.
His video tribute may be viewed and online condolences may be sent to kiblerbradyruestman.com.