Joe Ehrhardt

Joe Martin Ehrhardt, 92, of Mexico, died Tuesday evening, Feb. 22, 2011 at Harry S. Truman Veteran s Hospital in Columbia.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, March 1, at Pickering Funeral Home with Rev. Karen Taylor officiating. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 28, at the funeral home. There will be an Odd Fellows service at 7. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery.

Mr. Ehrhardt was born May 21, 1918, in Chariton County, Missouri, a son of Edgar Martin and Edna (Crutchfield) Ehrhardt. He graduated from Huntsville High School in 1936. On July 3, 1939, in Moberly, he married Nellie May Sally Turner. Together they ran the Temple Stephens Stores in Marshall and Columbia before moving to Mexico in 1941. Mrs. Ehrhardt preceded him in death on March 14, 2006.

Joe was in Company G, 12th Infantry, 4th Division, US Army, serving from 1943 to 1945. He was wounded in the Normandy France Campaign. Awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon, the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Combat Infantry Badge. He spent 10 months in the VA Hospital in Galesburg, Illinois and at Percy Jones Hospital in Ft. Custer, Michigan.

After returning home, he continued to manage Temple Stephens stores from 1939 until 1951. He then was tire manager for Carroll Motor Company from 1951 until his retirement in 1983.

Joe was active in the Mexico I.O.O.F. Lodge #99, the Mexico United Methodist Church, and was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels at the Senior Center. He was in the Bowlers Hall of Fame, and was an avid golfer at Arthur Hills Golf Course.

Joe was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. After several surgeries, chemo, and radiation, he became a resident of the Harry S. Truman Veteran s Hospital where he spent the final 15 months of his life under their loving attention and care.

Survivors include a son, Terry Joe Ehrhardt, Harrisburg, Ill.; two daughters, Karen Galloway and husband Harry, Folsom, Calif., and Donna G. Baer and husband Ted, Randolph, Kans.; a grandson, Aaron C. Baer and two great-grandchildren, Caleb Christopher Baer and Kaydra Donna Baer.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by one brother, Robert F. Ehrhardt.

Memorials may be given to Mexico Senior Nutrition Center or Mexico United Methodist Church. They may be sent in care of Pickering Funeral Home, 403 N. Western, Mexico, MO 65265.