Owen Wendell Edgington

Owen Wendell Edgington 99, passed away peacefully on February 27, 2015 at the Magnolia Center of Crawford Memorial Hospital in Robinson, Illinois. He had been a resident there since January, 2014. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Dorothy Graves Edgington (2012), and his eldest son, Marlin R. Edgington (2002). He is survived by daughters Sharon V. Diffenderfer of rural Flat Rock and Vanessa A. Williams of Fenton, Michigan, and son John M. Edgington of Mansfield, Illinois. He is survived by 9 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and 9 great great grandchildren. Owen lived an eventful and colorful life. He was born February 14, 1916 at his parent’s home near Heathsville, Illinois. He attended Canaan Grade School and graduated from Palestine High School in 1935. Some of his more enjoyable boyhood memories were driving his mother's horse and buggy to Vincennes, Indiana to sell her White Wyandot chicken eggs at the hatchery, swimming in the creek swimming hole, playing cards with his siblings and attending the free silent films at the Flat Rock bandstand. When he was 19 years old Owen enlisted in the Army Air Corps' Lighter Than Air Division at Scott Field, Illinois. His duties entailed casting off and bringing in the Blimps which served as the U. S. Air Division at the time. By 1937 the blimps were gone, his squadron was divided and his group was sent to Marshall Field at Fort Riley, Kansas. There he met and married a young nurse, Dorothy Genevieve Graves, who was a nurse at the Manhattan, Kansas hospital. They had a double wedding with Owen’s friend, Keith Picket and Dorothy’s fellow nurse, Alta Parker. A daughter, Sharon Verdell was born in 1939. In 1940 a son, Marlin Robert was born, and shortly after, Owen was re-assigned to March Field, California where his young family lived in Riverside, California. In 1941 Owen was transferred to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. His family moved back to Manhattan, Kansas while Owen built a house in Mountain View, Alaska for his dependents. It only took him six months to build because after work he took advantage of the long daylight hours each day as sunset was 11:00 pm. After completion, he packed up his family and left Seattle, Washington on December 4. They were at sea when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Unbeknownst to them, their ship crossed behind the path of a Japanese submarine on its way to the Aleutian Islands. When the ship's Captain received the news, he immediately had all port holes painted black and headed for the nearest Naval base to put into port. They remained on the ship. Owen and his family were finally able to leave for Portage, Alaska on a fishing boat. From Portage, they boarded a train to Anchorage and from there went to his house. However, their stay was short-lived, because war was declared and all dependents were evacuated to the States. The family left on Owen’s birthday, February 14, 1942 to return to Kansas. Owen remained at an Alaskan outpost for the duration of World War II. In the summer of 1945, before he had time to call Dorothy, he was placed on a Military Air Transport to Fort Riley, Kansas. Upon his unannounced arrival, Sharon recognized him through the window of the door, but didn’t open it until she got her Mother. Owen was discharged in 1945 and the family went to his parents home to Illinois. After a long separation, Owen and Dorothy spent two weeks of R&R (Rest and Relaxation) in Florida. The Armed Forces were offering a 20 year plan where you could retire after 20 years instead of 30 years, which sounded like a good deal to Owen. Upon his return from Florida, he re-enlisted and was stationed again at Marshall Field at Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1946 son John Marion was born. While Owen was stationed at Marshall Field the brown uniforms of the Army Air Core changed to the new blue of the U.S. Air Force. Marshall Field was subsequently closed in 1951 and Owen was transferred to Columbus Air Force Base in Indiana. No dependent quarters were available, so Sharon, Marlin and John went to school in Heathsville, Illinois until Owen rented a house in Seymour, Indiana. Owen was later reassigned to the Olathe Air Naval Station in Olathe, Kansas where in 1953 daughter Vanessa Ann was born in nearby Fort Leavenworth. Owen was sent to San Francisco where he awaited assignment to the Far East. He was able to trade the Far East assignment for Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. In July, 1953 the family left Olathe driving to White Horse in the Yukon Territories and continuing their journey driving the one-lane gravel Alcan Highway to Anchorage. Owen's last assignment came in 1955 when he was transferred to the Air Force Security Service at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He retired with 25 years of military service on August 31, 1960 and moved back to his boyhood home near Heathsville, Illinois. In January 1963 Owen accepted an offer to work in the Civil Service at the Defense Logistics Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. He often laughed when asked what his job entailed, responding that he catalogued everything from fountain pens to battleships. He retired from the Civil Service in 1980 and again returned to the family farm in Illinois. Owen remained active in public service as the Cemetery Trustee for Montgomery Township, and was elected to the Crawford County Board where he served on several committees such as the Crawford County Airport, Board of Health, Animal Shelter, Recycle Center, Budget and Refinery. While serving on the Montgomery Township Board, he helped consolidate the precincts and obtained grant money for a new Township Building. A time of visitation will be held from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Palestine, IL. Funeral services will follow at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday in Palestine, with burial following at the Pleasant View Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the V.F.W. Transportation Fund, with envelopes available at the funeral home.