Willard Aaron Sawyer 1926-1993

SAWYER, HILL, FISHER, SNIDER, CHORTEK, MCCURDY, WEED, GRAY

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 9/9/2012 at 22:11:32

Willard Sawyer
Elk Grove, Calif., - Services for Willard A. [Aaron] Sawyer, 67, of Elk Grove, Calif., formerly of Estherville, will be held on Saturday, October 2, at 9 a.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery in Estherville with Rev. John McCurdy officiating. Military graveside rites will be conducted by VFW Post 3388 and American Legion Post 91. There will be no visitation prior to the graveside committal.

Local arrangements by Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home in Estherville. In the event of rain services will be held at the funeral home. He died on September 2, 1993 at Methodist Hospital in Sacramento, Calif.

He was born on July 15, 1926 in Ladysmith, Wisc., the son of Fred and Alice (Fisher) Sawyer. He graduated from Estherville High School in 1944. After serving in the Navy during WWII, he studied and played football at Drake University. He later attended N.E. Missouri State University and received his Doctorate in Counseling from the University of Iowa. He married Sharon Kaye Hill.

After graduating from Drake, he taught high school and coached in Columbus Junction and Mid Prairie of Wellman in Iowa. In 1961, the family moved to Oakland, Calif., where he worked as a guidance counselor at Skyline High School. He later served as high school principal at schools in Fremont and Elk Grove. He was an active member of the school athletic programs and a member of the First Christian church in Fremont where he performed in the church choir for many years.

Survivors include his wife, Kaye Sawyer of Elk Grove; two daughters, Mrs. Jim (Erin) Snider of Newark, Calif., and Mrs. Bob (Kimberly) Chortek of San Jose; three sisters, Mrs. John (Virginia) McCurdy of Grand Island, Neb., Mrs. Duff (Hilda) Weed of Bloomfield and Mrs. Bob (Helen) Gray of Estherville; three grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, September 29, 1993)