Elmer Sovern

Elmer Sovern, Jr., age 88, of Albia, died Friday, April 19, 2013, under the care of Circle of Life Hospice at Legacy Lodge in Chariton. He was born January 25, 1925 to Elmer Sovern and Lois Noviss in Springport, MI. He grew up in Level Park, the middle son of eight children. He had a long paper route, by bike, to help pay for family groceries during the depression. He bought his first Model T when he was 17 and drove it home in third gear because he'd never had driving lessons. Elmer was in the first 18 year old World War II draft while he was still in Battle Creek High School. He served in the 5th and 7th Army, 3rd Division, 15th Infantry under Generals Mark Clark and George Patton. He took part in Operation Torch in Casablanca, North Africa; Operation Shingle in Anzio, Italy; Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy; and the Push to Rome, where his feet were frozen in a fox hole. He was hospitalized in Italy, reclassified and discharged in October 1944. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, and two clusters. Elmer graduated from Battle Creek High School in 1946, while working at the Kellogg Company, learning to run all the machines and later began working in Research and Development. He was especially proud of his teams' development of Raisin Bran, Special K, and Product 19. Elmer married Martha Edgerton in Battle Creek in 1945 and they had five children. Martha died in 1957 during the Asian Flu pandemic. He married Carol King at her home in Albia on November 29, 1958. He continued his work at Kellogg's doing research and development along with engineer's work in Manchester, England; London; Ontario; Mexico; and all Kellogg plants in the United States. Elmer left Kellogg's for Nabisco in 1968 and worked with a team to design and build a cereal plant in Aurora, IL. In 1972, Elmer and Carol moved to Albia and later bought Behnkes Famous Fryers. He became an independent cereal consultant and moved to Trinidad, West Indies with Carol in 1985. While there, he designed the Universal Foods plant, supervised construction, and designed the single line machines to produce six cereals. He wrote all the production manuals and trained the workers. He also did waste control for Universal's biscuit and candy plants. In 1992, Elmer and Carol moved to Corowa, Australia where Elmer managed waste control at the Uncle Toby's cold cereal plant. After retirement, Elmer and Carol bought a small condo on Emerald Lake in Naples, FL. He enjoyed deep sea and lake fishing there for 18 years and was really proud to win the Caribbean World Contest one year with his Trinidad team. Elmer also enjoyed fishing in Michigan; Florida; Iowa; Alaska; Tasmania, Australia; Great Barrier Reef, and Trinidad and Tobago. Elmer's family, especially the grandchildren and great grandchildren were special to him. Family, fishing, and baseball were his favorite past times. Elmer is survived by his wife, Carol Sovern of Albia; four children, Mary (Charlie) Hall of Lancaster, PA, Robert (Barbara) Sovern of Gig Harbor, WA, Alice (Lee) Gaus of Flossmoor, IL, and Richard Sovern of Albia; twelve grandchildren; and 14 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Martha; and a son, William Wesley. Funeral services will be 11 a.m., Friday, April 26, 2013, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Albia, with Pastor Neil Montz officiating. Military rites, provided by the American Legion of Albia, Lovilia, and Melrose will follow services at the church. Burial will be Monday, April 29, 2013, in Floral Lawn Memorial Gardens in Battle Creek, MI. Visitation will be 2-8 p.m., Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Tharp Funeral Home in Albia, with Elmer's family present from 5-8 p.m. A presentation, provided by Elmer's family, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Memorials may be made to Albia Chamber of Commerce for the Fourth of July Fishing Competition at the reservoir or to the 4-H Fishing Club.

Elmer Sovern

January 25, 1925 - April 19, 2013