Family will receive friends from 5 to7 p.m. Monday
at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home, 127 S.
Logan St. in Lincoln. His funeral will be at 9:30
a.m. Tuesday at Zion Lutheran Church of Lincoln,
with Pastor Mark Thompson officiating. (Note the
corrected time for the service.)
Burial will follow at Camp Butler National
Cemetery, where the Interveterans Burial Detail of
Sangamon County will conduct military honors.
Mr. Werner worked as an insurance broker for Aid
Associations for Lutherans life insurance company
and later as a technical adviser with the Illinois
Department of Transportation. He retired in 1989.
He was a U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II.
Bob was born on Feb. 19, 1922, in Springfield,
the son of John and Anna Werner. He married Betty J.
Sandidge of Louisville, Ky., on March 8, 1945.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Betty J.
Werner of Lincoln; four children, daughter Sandra K.
Adkins of Lincoln, son Steven R. (wife Carol) Werner
of Chandler, Ariz., son Scott A. Werner of Lincoln
and son Stanton W. Werner of Aurora; seven
grandchildren, Christopher A. (wife Nicole) Adkins
of Aurora, Cynthia A. Adkins and Courtney A. Adkins
of Springfield, Emily R. Werner of Tucson, Ariz.,
Eliot D. Werner of Phoenix, Ariz., Brock A. (wife
Hayley) Werner of Lincoln, and Morgan T. Werner of
Aurora; two great-grandchildren, Imagin Patience
Werner and Jessa Bliss Werner of Lincoln; two
brothers, Walt (wife June) Werner of Tinton Falls,
N.J., and Raymond Werner of Springfield; a
sister-in-law, Ethel (husband John) Kelly, of
Venice, Fla.; and several nieces, nephews and
cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents; three
brothers, Edward, Frederick and John Werner; and a
sister, Esther Wild. |
Following his graduation from Lanphier High School
in Springfield in 1940, Bob was called to serve in
the Air Force. During World War II he served with
the 15th Air Force, 454th Bombing Group, in the
European Theater. He had the rank of technical
sergeant and was a radio operator and aerial gunner.
He was wounded on two bombing missions in March and
April of 1944 and was awarded a Purple Heart with
1st Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster. On his 50th bombing
mission, during the Battle of Polesti, Romania, his
B-24 plane was shot down over Bulgaria. He was
captured by the German army and held as a prisoner
of war from June through September 1944, when the
Russian army liberated him and his fellow soldiers.
He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in
Lincoln, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion,
Disabled American Veterans and American Ex-Prisoners
of War.
His hobbies included traveling with his wife in
their motor home, gardening and watching sports,
especially when his children and grandchildren were
playing.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the
scholarship fund of Zion Lutheran School in Lincoln
or to Memorial Home Services Hospice.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the
Werner family. |