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Robert Werner

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[June 20, 2009]  Robert George Werner, 87, of Lincoln, died Friday, June 19, 2009, at his home.

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.

Funeral Director

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.

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