Earl Dean Sayre

On the morning of Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, Earl Dean Sayre passed away at the age of 93 at the Maryville Living Center nursing home in Maryville. Earl Dean was born to William Ira and Lida Mae (Harmon) Sayre, who preceded him in death. He was the eighth of twelve children.

Earl was born east of Milan in Sullivan County on April 2, 1926. He graduated from Milan High School in 1944, and enlisted in the US Army in 1946. After returning from his military service, Earl returned to Sullivan County to farm with his family. He remained active in the Army Reserves from 1947-1951. Earl Dean worked for Howard Construction Company in Sedalia as a Core Driller and then for the Social Security Administration in Kansas City. Later he worked in Ft. Leavenworth, KS on the base from 1964 until his retirement in 1990, first at the US Disciplinary Barracks and later at the Command and General Staff College.

Earl married Margaret Helen Mereness in 1964, and they resided in Cameron until 1976, when they moved to rural Kidder. In 2003 they moved to Maryville, where they resided until his passing.

Throughout his life, Earl enjoyed the outdoors; arrowhead and rock hunting, gardening and any physical labor. Even as he became less active, he continued to work outdoors and had been found in recent years chopping wood from a fallen tree while sitting in a yard chair. After retirement, Earl Dean became very interested in genealogy and became an enthusiastic pen pal to many distant relatives throughout the country. He liked watching wildlife and old Western TV shows, coin collecting, woodworking, reading the daily funny paper, and was always game for teasing his grandchildren and nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Dean was preceded in death by his siblings, infant twins, brother Lee and sister Leah (1931), Herbert (1968), Porter (1979), Elmer (1983), Seldon (1995) Harold (1997), Edward (2005), Elba (2014), Helen Harris (2014), and Dorothy Teeter (2018). He was also preceded in death by his daughter, Vickie Lynn Hartwig (2017).

Earl is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Margaret Helen, of the home. He is also survived by one son, Terrance Dean Oertwig (Cherry) of Winnsboro, TX; two daughters, Lucinda (Travis) Gibson of Liberty and Melinda (Mark) Hoover of Maryville; nine grandchildren, Tiffany Daniels, Quinn Oertwig, Christy Steele-Schouten, Maycee Hoover, Trey Hoover and Gracyn Hoover, Alana Eggleston, Dylan Gibson and Connor Gibson; nine great-grandchildren; and two great great-grandchildren; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, at Bram Funeral Home, 208 E. School St., Hamilton, Mo. Interment will be at the Highland Cemetery in a private service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Three Rivers Hospice in St. Joseph.

(paid obituary)

The Caldwell County News

101 South Davis
P.O. Box 218
Hamilton, MO 64644
Phone: 816-583-2116
news@mycaldwellcounty.com

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