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- [S926] Find-A-Grave, (www.findagrave.com).
Dr Willard Jean "Wid" Eyer
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Birth: Dec. 23, 1924
Olney
Richland County
Illinois, USA
Death: Jan. 11, 2006
Olney
Richland County
Illinois, USA
Dr. Willard "Wid" Jean Eyer, M.D., 81, of Olney, died at 11:20 a.m. Saturday, January 11, 2006 at Richland Memorial Hospital following a long and hard battle with cancer of the neck and throat.
Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at Summers-Kistler Funeral Home in Olney. Funeral services with full military rites, will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home with Pastor Scott Carlson of First United Methodist Church in Olney officiating.
Burial will be in Eyer/Scherer (Fritschle) Cemetery on East Seven Hills Lane in rural Olney.
Dr. Eyer was born on Dec. 23, 1924, in Olney, the third of four sons born to William Herman Eyer and Mary Irene (Schmoker) Eyer. He graduated valedictorian of the class of 1942 from Olney Township High School in Olney. Upon graduation, Dr. Eyer moved to Chicago, where he worked as a junior bank messanger during the day and attended night school at Northwestern University, majoring in engineering preparatory.
In 1943, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served 39 months as a pilot, flying P-47 fighter planes during World War II, earning two Battle Stars, an Air Medal, American and European Theatre Ribbons, Victory and Occupation Ribbons-Germany and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Dr. Eyer and Helen Erlene Brown, of rural Clay City, met at the Olney skating rink in the summer of 1946, fell in love, and were married on September 7, 1947.
He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., in 1950 and the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Medicine in 1954. He completed his medical and general practitioner internships at Swedish American Hospital in Rockford. He returned to Olney in May of 1955, where he practiced medice for 48 years, serving as the family doctor to five generations of Olneans and families of surrounding communities.
When he began his practice in 1955, he often made house calls and could regularly be seen carrying his doctor's "black bag". During his 48 years of practice, he performed everything from routine physicals, tonsillectomies and minor surgery to delivering babies. He loved being a doctor and lived to serve his patients. Even after he was forced to retire in June 2003, due to poor health, he kept his prescription license current, should any of his older patients need to have their prescription filled. Dr. Eyer was sincerely loved and will be dearly missed by family, colleagues, patients and friends alike.
In addition to his private practice, Dr. Eyer was also a staff physician of Richland Memorial Hospital from 1955 to 1988, Chief of Staff at RMH in 1972, and an honorary staff physician at RMH from 1988 to the time of his death. He was founding and life member of Olney Petroleum Club, as well as a lifetime member of American Medical Association and several local organizations, including VFW, Elks and American Legion. He also loved and supported the St. Louis Zoo, making numerous visits to the zoo each year with his children and grandchildren when they were young.
Dr. Eyer is survived by two brothers, Fred Eyer of Indiana, Pa., and Jimmy Eyer of Midland, Texas; his wife of 58 years, Helen Eyer of Olney; their five children, Sheryl Lynn Alexander and her husband, Jim, of Morton, Steven Duane Eyer and his wife, Katie, of Duluth, Minn., Lori Jean Prosser and her husband, Mike, of Olney, Nancy Jo Deimel and her husband, Cliff, of Olney; 15 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Carl Eyer, of Olney.
Memorials may be made to St. Louis Zoo Friends Association, attention Tribute Fund, 1 Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110 or to Hope Lodge, a service of American Cancer Society at 4215 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108.
Published in Olney Daily Mail
Family links:
Parents:
William Herman Eyer (1884 - 1963)
Mary Irene Schmoker Eyer (1893 - 1962)
Sibling:
Carl W Eyer (1921 - 2001)*
Willard Jean Eyer (1924 - 2006)
*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Fritschle Cemetery
Richland County
Illinois, USA
Created by: Janice (Teel) Crites
Record added: Jul 28, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 55550562
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1924 - 2006 (81 years)