OBITUARY: John E. Ewell Sr.

John E. Ewell Sr. of the Somerset Community of rural Harrisburg passed away 3:02 a.m. Wednesday at Harrisburg Medical Center.

He was born April 18, 1928, in Saline County the son of Cressie and Ida Mae Pyles Ewell. He married Mary Elizabeth Cavins and she preceded him in death July 30, 2000. John was a Veteran and had retired as a laborer from CPC International in Pekin. He had attended Walnut Grove Baptist Church.

He is survived by two sons, John E. and Virginia Ewell of Harrisburg and James W. and Sheila Ewell of Hanna City; eight grandchildren, David Ewell, Terri Rice, Tonja Patierski, Thomas Smith, Daniel Jackson, Heather Ewell, Amber Ewell and Stephanie Parrish; 14 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Mary; two daughters, Katherine Elizabeth Williams and Barbara Colleen Jackson; a grandson, William E. Ewell Sr.; two brothers, Isaac and Amer Ewell; and three sisters, Norma Ewell, Stella Tucker and Beulah Henard.

Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, at the J.M. Weirauch Funeral Home with the Rev. Jim Williams officiating and burial in Spring Valley Cemetery. Friends may call from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, at the J.M. Weirauch Funeral Home in Harrisburg.