Earl T. Gerding, 96, of Ottawa, died on Saturday, September 3, at Hines V. A. Hospital in Proviso Township. Private services were held at 1 p.m. on Friday, September 9, in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in Oakwood Memorial Park in Ottawa, with Rev. John Walker, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, officiating. Arrangements were through the Mueller Funeral Home in Ottawa.
Earl was born on January 26, 1920, in Ottawa, to Carl and Margaret (Bretag) Gerding. He was an Army Veteran of WWII, serving in the Pacific Theater. He married Mary Ellen Feeney on May 17, 1943, in Champaign, Illinois. He was a Graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Architecture and retired as a self-employed Architect.
He is survived by 3 daughters, Joan Gerding of Marceline, Missouri, Ann Blackstone, of Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Jan Gerding, of Chicago, and one son, Jim (Donna) Gerding, of Utica.
He was preceded in death by his wife, and two brothers, Carl and Paul Gerding.
Memorials may be directed to the First Presbyterian Church, Ottawa.
Earl has been laid to rest in the Garden of the Last Supper.