Mervin "Ed" Edward Sawyer

Mervin 'Ed' Sawyer, age 64 of Wilmington, passed away Wednesday September 24, 2008 at the Joliet Area Community Hospice Home. \r\n\r\nThe funeral service in his honor will begin at 2:00 p.m., Monday, September 29, 2008 at Mitchell-Jerdan Funeral Home, 1200 Wabash Avenue, Mattoon, Illinois with Reverend Richard Coen officiating. Interment will follow in Zion Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. prior to the service. A visitation will also be held at the Reeves Funeral Home in Wilmington, Illinois, Sunday, September 28, 2008, from 3:00 to 7:00 pm. with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. with Reverend Mark Moon. \r\n\r\nBorn June 26, 1944 in St. Louis, MO, Ed was a son of the late Milo I. and Marie Patterson-Sawyer. He was raised and educated in the Mattoon area and on October 10, 1964 married Lorraine Elliott and moved to the Wilmington area. \r\n\r\nSurvivors include his loving wife Lorraine; three children: Stacey (Tom) Olson of Wilmington, Shelby (Mike) Swann of Frankfort and Josh (Theresa) Sawyer of Joliet; Eight grandchildren: Ethan, Connor and Spencer Olson, Allie Lankford, Kendall and Sydney Swann and Hunter and Hayden Sawyer; his godson Matthew (Kim) Darling of Mattoon; mother-in-law Katherine Elliott of Auburn, IL; three brothers: Tom (Brenda) of Charleston, IL, Max of Mattoon and Richard (Deborah) of Coal City; two sisters: Marilyn (Ron) Warfel and Karen (Ron) Malloch, both of Neoga, IL and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: Lou Ann (Carl) Troyer of Eureka, Janice Whitaker of Florida, Loretta (Bill) Franke of Chatham, IL, Wendy (Patrick) Osburn of Auburn, IL and Carl (Jan) Elliott of Girard, IL, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and his very dear friends: Gary (Marianna) Brooks of Wilmington. He was preceded in death by his parents, granddaughter Bailey, two brothers: Marion and Ronald Sawyer; two sisters: Margaret Bernard and Cheryle Sawyer; his grandparents and his father-in-law John Elliott. \r\n\r\nEd retired as a welder from Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1999 after 34 years of service. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington and in his free time greatly enjoyed playing the guitar, airplanes and flying, tennis and the St. Louis Cardinals. \r\n\r\nPlease visit www.mitchell-jerdan.com to light a virtual candle or share a memory with the family.

Tributes

Mervin "Ed" Edward Sawyer

June 26, 1944 - September 24, 2008