Edward F. Dahm

1921 - 2011

Edward Dahm

Edward F. Dahm, 90, of Belleville, Ill., born Saturday, July 16, 1921, in Belleville, Ill., died Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at Rosewood Care Center in Swansea, Ill.

Ed graduated from Belleville Township HS in 1939. He attended Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., where he starred as a three-sport athlete. In 1974 he became a member of the Millikin Sports Hall of Fame. He interrupted his senior year in college during World War II to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he became a B-17 bomber pilot. He flew 35 combat missions over Nazi Germany.

After the war, Ed returned to Belleville and married Ruth Braun (1922-1956). They had three children, Doug (Sharon) Dahm of Swansea, and Marsha Dahm and Don Dahm, both living in Belleville. Ed worked as an accountant at Flannery & Sons cement company in East St. Louis and as a salesman for River Cement until his retirement in 1982. He loved waterfowl hunting, painting, decoy carving, fishing, and golf (earning many awards and senior championships). A member of Blessed Sacrament parish for many years, he belonged to Mississippi Valley Duck Hunters of Illinois and was a charter member of the Belleville West Sports Booster Club.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Mamie, nee Cermak, and Julius Dahm; and two sisters, Jeanette Dahm and Doris Baldwin.

Surviving are Mary Carolyn, nee Thurgood, his loving wife of 49 years; his children; three grandchildren, Matt (Rachel) Dahm of Wheelersburg, Ohio, Andrew (Beth) Dahm of Millstadt, Ill., and Jennifer Dahm of Washington, D.C.; four great-grandsons, Evan and Owen of Wheelersburg, Ohio, and Will and Wyatt of Millstadt, Ill.; brother-in-law, John Baldwin, nephew, Reed (Patty) Baldwin, and niece Julie (Greg) Caldwell, all of Louisville, Ky.

Memorials may be made to the Belleville West Sports Booster Club or donor's choice. Condolences may be expressed online at www.kurrusfh.com.

Visitation: Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 22, 2011, at Kurrus Funeral Home in Belleville, Ill.

Funeral: A funeral procession will leave from Kurrus Funeral Home in Belleville, Ill., at 9:45 a.m., Saturday, July 23, 2011, for a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Henry Catholic Church in Belleville, Ill., with Father Clyde Grogan officiating. Interment will follow at Mount Carmel Cemetery, Belleville, Ill.

KURRUS FUNERAL HOME, Belleville, Ill.