William J. Egner, Geneva, Ill.
Emporia native William J. Egner, formerly of the Union and Huntley, Ill., area, died Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva, Ill. He was 79.
Mr. Egner, a longtime chemical engineer, worked for the Coleman Company and Southern California Chemical Company before he retired from Revcor in Carpentersville, Ill.
The son of Karl and Besse Buhrle Egner, he was born July 6, 1927, in Emporia. He graduated from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia with degrees in chemistry and mathematics. He later earned his chemical engineering license.
He married Mary L. Parkman on July 20, 1952, in Emporia. They lived in Kansas and Texas before they moved to the Union-Huntley area in 1979. She died June 9, 1996.
Mr. Egner was a Justice of the Peace at Watauga, Texas. He was a member of the National Rifle Association and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
He is survived by a son, Stephen W. Egner of Sycamore, Ill.; a daughter, Patricia Ream of Hampshire, Ill.; and two grandchildren. Survivors in this area include his stepmother-in-law, Margaret Parkman, and a brother-in-law, Eldon Parkman, both of Emporia; and a sister-in-law, Iyla Carter of Plymouth.
A brother, K.B. Egner, died earlier.
The funeral was held Dec. 19 at the Fredrick Funeral Home in Hampshire, Ill. Burial was in Hampshire Center Cemetery.
Memorial contributions in his name may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association.