Decatur (IL) Herald & Review, Feb. 3, 2019
Noel Warren Myers, 99, of Decatur, passed away peacefully Jan. 26, 2019 at Imboden Creek Living Center. Memorial services will be held at First United Methodist Church, Decatur, at 3:00 pm, Sunday, February 10. Inurnment will be held at a later date at North Providence Ridge Cemetery, Elwood, IL. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Myers was born Aug. 9, 1919 on the family farm near Elwood, IL, in Will County, the son of Warren B. and Bertha M. (Noel) Myers. An alumnus of Joliet Township High School and Joliet Junior College (class of 1939), he spent the two years following graduation as a bench chemist at Blockson Chemical Co. in Joliet before entering the University of Illinois in the fall of 1941, graduating two years later magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1944 he received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. While completing his graduate studies, he was selected to participate in a confidential research project investigating monomer recovery in the synthetic rubber manufacturing process - a program jointly sponsored by Princeton and the wartime tire consortium, Rubber Reserve Company. Entering the Navy immediately after graduation, he completed six months of officers' candidate training at Princeton and Norfolk, VA before joining the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor where he was assigned as navigator and convoy control officer aboard the USS Hyman (DD 732) - a Sumner-class destroyer which had sustained extensive damage just weeks before at Okinawa. At the conclusion of hostilities in September, 1945, his duties included a prolonged stay of several months on the island of Ponape as part of a naval operation tasked with repatriating several thousand surrendered Japanese soldiers and establishing civilian rule to the Caroline Islands following decades of military occupation. He left the service in 1946 at a final rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Stateside, he wed the former Mary Louise Cusick Dec. 28, 1949 at a ceremony officiated by the bride's father, Rev. C.L. Cusick, in Evans City, PA. The couple spent nearly 63 years together before Mary Lou passed away in 2012.
Arriving in Decatur in 1947, Noel worked nearly eighteen years as a senior research chemist at A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., helping the firm modernize its aging vegetable refinery operations and later assisting in the construction of a new soybean crushing facility in Santander, Spain - the company's first venture into overseas markets. For several years after leaving Staley's, he served as Technical Superintendent, Soybean Division, at Archer Daniels Midland Co. and later as Vice-President of Engineering at the Monticello, IL-based Viobin Corporation, a wheat germ oil processor. In 1971 he started his own engineering consulting business, and for the next thirty years until his retirement Myers Engineers advised numerous agribusiness clients and concerns worldwide including long-term projects in India, Jamaica and Mexico. He spent a considerable portion of the 1980's and 1990's in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico helping a large, privately owned Mexican firm build and operate a new soybean processing complex. The company invested heavily in new equipment and by the mid 1990's was earning $30-million in annual revenue, selling soy meal and bottled refined soy oil to customers throughout Central America. Later he assisted Mr. Lynn Clarkson of Clarkson Grain Co. in Cerro Gordo, IL in constructing and operating the world's first organic lecithin plant in Cherokee, IA.
Noel was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur for over sixty years. He was also a member of the American Oil Chemists' Society (A.O.C.S.) and a proud member of the University of Illinois' Chancellor's Circle. He was a longstanding member of Rotary International and during his lengthy stay in Merida helped lead an effort by Decatur Rotarians in funding the Amor y Vida orphanage in that city. An avid history enthusiast, he was a founding member and a past President of the Decatur Civil War Roundtable. Noel and Mary Lou both enjoyed the genial companionship of the Cozy Culture and Fortnightly Book Clubs of which they were devoted members for many years.
Surviving Mr. Myers are a son, Bruce, of Decatur, granddaughter Isabella Noelle Burkhardt of Brooklyn, NY, a sister, Mrs. Lois M. Lewis of Elwood, IL and a son-in-law, Glen Burkhardt of Indianapolis, IN. Seven nieces and nephews also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and a daughter, Gwendolyn Myers Burkhardt.
The family wishes also to acknowledge the staff of Imboden Creek Gardens and Imboden Creek Living Center for their magnificent service to Noel during his retirement years.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family in care of Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes at www.brintlingerandearl.com.
Noel Warren Myers, 99, of Decatur, passed away peacefully Jan. 26, 2019 at Imboden Creek Living Center. Memorial services will be held at First United Methodist Church, Decatur, at 3:00 pm, Sunday, February 10. Inurnment will be held at a later date at North Providence Ridge Cemetery, Elwood, IL. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Myers was born Aug. 9, 1919 on the family farm near Elwood, IL, in Will County, the son of Warren B. and Bertha M. (Noel) Myers. An alumnus of Joliet Township High School and Joliet Junior College (class of 1939), he spent the two years following graduation as a bench chemist at Blockson Chemical Co. in Joliet before entering the University of Illinois in the fall of 1941, graduating two years later magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1944 he received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. While completing his graduate studies, he was selected to participate in a confidential research project investigating monomer recovery in the synthetic rubber manufacturing process - a program jointly sponsored by Princeton and the wartime tire consortium, Rubber Reserve Company. Entering the Navy immediately after graduation, he completed six months of officers' candidate training at Princeton and Norfolk, VA before joining the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor where he was assigned as navigator and convoy control officer aboard the USS Hyman (DD 732) - a Sumner-class destroyer which had sustained extensive damage just weeks before at Okinawa. At the conclusion of hostilities in September, 1945, his duties included a prolonged stay of several months on the island of Ponape as part of a naval operation tasked with repatriating several thousand surrendered Japanese soldiers and establishing civilian rule to the Caroline Islands following decades of military occupation. He left the service in 1946 at a final rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Stateside, he wed the former Mary Louise Cusick Dec. 28, 1949 at a ceremony officiated by the bride's father, Rev. C.L. Cusick, in Evans City, PA. The couple spent nearly 63 years together before Mary Lou passed away in 2012.
Arriving in Decatur in 1947, Noel worked nearly eighteen years as a senior research chemist at A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., helping the firm modernize its aging vegetable refinery operations and later assisting in the construction of a new soybean crushing facility in Santander, Spain - the company's first venture into overseas markets. For several years after leaving Staley's, he served as Technical Superintendent, Soybean Division, at Archer Daniels Midland Co. and later as Vice-President of Engineering at the Monticello, IL-based Viobin Corporation, a wheat germ oil processor. In 1971 he started his own engineering consulting business, and for the next thirty years until his retirement Myers Engineers advised numerous agribusiness clients and concerns worldwide including long-term projects in India, Jamaica and Mexico. He spent a considerable portion of the 1980's and 1990's in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico helping a large, privately owned Mexican firm build and operate a new soybean processing complex. The company invested heavily in new equipment and by the mid 1990's was earning $30-million in annual revenue, selling soy meal and bottled refined soy oil to customers throughout Central America. Later he assisted Mr. Lynn Clarkson of Clarkson Grain Co. in Cerro Gordo, IL in constructing and operating the world's first organic lecithin plant in Cherokee, IA.
Noel was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur for over sixty years. He was also a member of the American Oil Chemists' Society (A.O.C.S.) and a proud member of the University of Illinois' Chancellor's Circle. He was a longstanding member of Rotary International and during his lengthy stay in Merida helped lead an effort by Decatur Rotarians in funding the Amor y Vida orphanage in that city. An avid history enthusiast, he was a founding member and a past President of the Decatur Civil War Roundtable. Noel and Mary Lou both enjoyed the genial companionship of the Cozy Culture and Fortnightly Book Clubs of which they were devoted members for many years.
Surviving Mr. Myers are a son, Bruce, of Decatur, granddaughter Isabella Noelle Burkhardt of Brooklyn, NY, a sister, Mrs. Lois M. Lewis of Elwood, IL and a son-in-law, Glen Burkhardt of Indianapolis, IN. Seven nieces and nephews also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and a daughter, Gwendolyn Myers Burkhardt.
The family wishes also to acknowledge the staff of Imboden Creek Gardens and Imboden Creek Living Center for their magnificent service to Noel during his retirement years.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family in care of Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes at www.brintlingerandearl.com.
Decatur (IL) Herald & Review, Feb. 3, 2019
Noel Warren Myers, 99, of Decatur, passed away peacefully Jan. 26, 2019 at Imboden Creek Living Center. Memorial services will be held at First United Methodist Church, Decatur, at 3:00 pm, Sunday, February 10. Inurnment will be held at a later date at North Providence Ridge Cemetery, Elwood, IL. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Myers was born Aug. 9, 1919 on the family farm near Elwood, IL, in Will County, the son of Warren B. and Bertha M. (Noel) Myers. An alumnus of Joliet Township High School and Joliet Junior College (class of 1939), he spent the two years following graduation as a bench chemist at Blockson Chemical Co. in Joliet before entering the University of Illinois in the fall of 1941, graduating two years later magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1944 he received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. While completing his graduate studies, he was selected to participate in a confidential research project investigating monomer recovery in the synthetic rubber manufacturing process - a program jointly sponsored by Princeton and the wartime tire consortium, Rubber Reserve Company. Entering the Navy immediately after graduation, he completed six months of officers' candidate training at Princeton and Norfolk, VA before joining the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor where he was assigned as navigator and convoy control officer aboard the USS Hyman (DD 732) - a Sumner-class destroyer which had sustained extensive damage just weeks before at Okinawa. At the conclusion of hostilities in September, 1945, his duties included a prolonged stay of several months on the island of Ponape as part of a naval operation tasked with repatriating several thousand surrendered Japanese soldiers and establishing civilian rule to the Caroline Islands following decades of military occupation. He left the service in 1946 at a final rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Stateside, he wed the former Mary Louise Cusick Dec. 28, 1949 at a ceremony officiated by the bride's father, Rev. C.L. Cusick, in Evans City, PA. The couple spent nearly 63 years together before Mary Lou passed away in 2012.
Arriving in Decatur in 1947, Noel worked nearly eighteen years as a senior research chemist at A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., helping the firm modernize its aging vegetable refinery operations and later assisting in the construction of a new soybean crushing facility in Santander, Spain - the company's first venture into overseas markets. For several years after leaving Staley's, he served as Technical Superintendent, Soybean Division, at Archer Daniels Midland Co. and later as Vice-President of Engineering at the Monticello, IL-based Viobin Corporation, a wheat germ oil processor. In 1971 he started his own engineering consulting business, and for the next thirty years until his retirement Myers Engineers advised numerous agribusiness clients and concerns worldwide including long-term projects in India, Jamaica and Mexico. He spent a considerable portion of the 1980's and 1990's in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico helping a large, privately owned Mexican firm build and operate a new soybean processing complex. The company invested heavily in new equipment and by the mid 1990's was earning $30-million in annual revenue, selling soy meal and bottled refined soy oil to customers throughout Central America. Later he assisted Mr. Lynn Clarkson of Clarkson Grain Co. in Cerro Gordo, IL in constructing and operating the world's first organic lecithin plant in Cherokee, IA.
Noel was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur for over sixty years. He was also a member of the American Oil Chemists' Society (A.O.C.S.) and a proud member of the University of Illinois' Chancellor's Circle. He was a longstanding member of Rotary International and during his lengthy stay in Merida helped lead an effort by Decatur Rotarians in funding the Amor y Vida orphanage in that city. An avid history enthusiast, he was a founding member and a past President of the Decatur Civil War Roundtable. Noel and Mary Lou both enjoyed the genial companionship of the Cozy Culture and Fortnightly Book Clubs of which they were devoted members for many years.
Surviving Mr. Myers are a son, Bruce, of Decatur, granddaughter Isabella Noelle Burkhardt of Brooklyn, NY, a sister, Mrs. Lois M. Lewis of Elwood, IL and a son-in-law, Glen Burkhardt of Indianapolis, IN. Seven nieces and nephews also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and a daughter, Gwendolyn Myers Burkhardt.
The family wishes also to acknowledge the staff of Imboden Creek Gardens and Imboden Creek Living Center for their magnificent service to Noel during his retirement years.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family in care of Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes at www.brintlingerandearl.com.
Noel Warren Myers, 99, of Decatur, passed away peacefully Jan. 26, 2019 at Imboden Creek Living Center. Memorial services will be held at First United Methodist Church, Decatur, at 3:00 pm, Sunday, February 10. Inurnment will be held at a later date at North Providence Ridge Cemetery, Elwood, IL. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Myers was born Aug. 9, 1919 on the family farm near Elwood, IL, in Will County, the son of Warren B. and Bertha M. (Noel) Myers. An alumnus of Joliet Township High School and Joliet Junior College (class of 1939), he spent the two years following graduation as a bench chemist at Blockson Chemical Co. in Joliet before entering the University of Illinois in the fall of 1941, graduating two years later magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1944 he received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. While completing his graduate studies, he was selected to participate in a confidential research project investigating monomer recovery in the synthetic rubber manufacturing process - a program jointly sponsored by Princeton and the wartime tire consortium, Rubber Reserve Company. Entering the Navy immediately after graduation, he completed six months of officers' candidate training at Princeton and Norfolk, VA before joining the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor where he was assigned as navigator and convoy control officer aboard the USS Hyman (DD 732) - a Sumner-class destroyer which had sustained extensive damage just weeks before at Okinawa. At the conclusion of hostilities in September, 1945, his duties included a prolonged stay of several months on the island of Ponape as part of a naval operation tasked with repatriating several thousand surrendered Japanese soldiers and establishing civilian rule to the Caroline Islands following decades of military occupation. He left the service in 1946 at a final rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Stateside, he wed the former Mary Louise Cusick Dec. 28, 1949 at a ceremony officiated by the bride's father, Rev. C.L. Cusick, in Evans City, PA. The couple spent nearly 63 years together before Mary Lou passed away in 2012.
Arriving in Decatur in 1947, Noel worked nearly eighteen years as a senior research chemist at A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., helping the firm modernize its aging vegetable refinery operations and later assisting in the construction of a new soybean crushing facility in Santander, Spain - the company's first venture into overseas markets. For several years after leaving Staley's, he served as Technical Superintendent, Soybean Division, at Archer Daniels Midland Co. and later as Vice-President of Engineering at the Monticello, IL-based Viobin Corporation, a wheat germ oil processor. In 1971 he started his own engineering consulting business, and for the next thirty years until his retirement Myers Engineers advised numerous agribusiness clients and concerns worldwide including long-term projects in India, Jamaica and Mexico. He spent a considerable portion of the 1980's and 1990's in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico helping a large, privately owned Mexican firm build and operate a new soybean processing complex. The company invested heavily in new equipment and by the mid 1990's was earning $30-million in annual revenue, selling soy meal and bottled refined soy oil to customers throughout Central America. Later he assisted Mr. Lynn Clarkson of Clarkson Grain Co. in Cerro Gordo, IL in constructing and operating the world's first organic lecithin plant in Cherokee, IA.
Noel was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur for over sixty years. He was also a member of the American Oil Chemists' Society (A.O.C.S.) and a proud member of the University of Illinois' Chancellor's Circle. He was a longstanding member of Rotary International and during his lengthy stay in Merida helped lead an effort by Decatur Rotarians in funding the Amor y Vida orphanage in that city. An avid history enthusiast, he was a founding member and a past President of the Decatur Civil War Roundtable. Noel and Mary Lou both enjoyed the genial companionship of the Cozy Culture and Fortnightly Book Clubs of which they were devoted members for many years.
Surviving Mr. Myers are a son, Bruce, of Decatur, granddaughter Isabella Noelle Burkhardt of Brooklyn, NY, a sister, Mrs. Lois M. Lewis of Elwood, IL and a son-in-law, Glen Burkhardt of Indianapolis, IN. Seven nieces and nephews also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and a daughter, Gwendolyn Myers Burkhardt.
The family wishes also to acknowledge the staff of Imboden Creek Gardens and Imboden Creek Living Center for their magnificent service to Noel during his retirement years.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family in care of Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes at www.brintlingerandearl.com.
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