Walter E. Pyle Sr.

Walter E. Pyle Sr., 82, formerly of Wood River and Vandalia, passed away at 3:57 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, at Alton Memorial Hospital.
Services will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Pitchford Funeral Home in Wood River, with the Rev. Kim Bell officiating. After the services, in accordance with Mr. Pyle's wishes, cremation rites will be accorded; burial will be at a later date in Green Hill Cemetery in VanBurensburg. Visitation will be held from 4 p.m. until time of services on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorials: The family.
Mr. Pyle was born on Sept. 28, 1932, in Vandalia, the son of the late George and Ethel (Ray) Pyle. He married the former Leslie Patton on March 2, 1976; they later divorced and she preceded him in death on April 16, 2011. He then married the former Sandra Fry Stark on April 27, 2004, in Jerseyville.
He was employed as a biology teacher at East Alton-Wood River High School for 33 years prior to his retirement in 1991. He was the former vice president of the Wood River-Hartford District 15 school board and formerly the president of the Community Educational Federal Credit Union in Wood River. He loved the St. Louis Cardinals, watching the Illini and watching old westerns. He enjoyed playing cards with his brothers-in-law and friends. He was a member of New Life Tabernacle in Delhi. He was a veteran of the Army.
He is survive by his wife; son, Gene Pyle of Cape Girardeau, Mo.; daughters, Tara Pelan and her husband Spencer Rowell of Portland, Ore., and Amy and her husband Travis Cook of Wood River; a special son, Ian Patton of Wood River; grandchildren: Gregory, Brittany, Brandy, Canaan, Leslie; stepchildren, Cynthia Morrow of Kane, Carl Stark of Carlinville, Kyle and Mindy Stark of Roodhouse, Lucas Stark of Kane, Crystal Burrell and her husband Rick of Godfrey, and their children; and a brother, Kenneth and Verna Pyle of Vandalia.