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Earl Vandewater, 88, of Orient died Tuesday, July 4, 2017, at his home in Orient.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 26, at Orient United Methodist Church with burial in Hill of Zion Cemetery in rural Orient. Phil Price will officiate the service. A luncheon will be held at the church following the committal services at the cemetery. Open visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, with family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at Steen Funeral Home, 101 SE Fourth St., in Greenfield. Memorials may be made to the Earl Vandewater memorial fund to be established by the family at a later date. Online condolences may be left at www.steenfunerals.com.
Earl Eldon Vandewater, son of Harlan Clair and Hazel Etta (Foster) Vandewater, was born March 27, 1929, in Adair County. He attended school in Orient.
On Aug. 25, 1947, he married Colleen Matthews at the Methodist Church parsonage in Creston. After their marriage, they settled on a farm west of Orient where they lived for many years. Much of his working life was spent farming row crops and raising livestock. For a few years, he owned a leather shop in Orient. Earl and Colleen moved to Orient in 1985.
Earl was a long time member of Eastern Star and Masonic Lodge. In 2008, he received his 50-year Mason’s member pin and certificate. He served as a Rainbow Dad for many years and was active in 4-H. In 2002, Earl and Colleen served as grand marshals of Orient Pumpkin Days.
Earl is survived by his daughter Rosalie (Jim) Ingle of Gower, Missouri; grandchildren, David (Tracy) Ingle, Brian (Holly) Ingle, Jeff (Candy) Vandewater, Angela (Scott) Tallant and Jessica (Troy) Jones; great-grandchildren, Olivia, Matthew, Sophie and Maiya Ingle, Drew, Aiden and Ava Tallant, Tyler and Tara Vandewater, Blake, Chloe and Luke Ingle and Lane Jones; nephews, Keith Lundy and Phillip (Connie) Lundy and many other family members and friends.
Earl was preceded in death by his parents; wife Colleen in May 2016; son Eldon Lee Vandewater in 2009; granddaughter Christina Vandewater in infancy; sisters and their husbands, Eva (Cecil) Clark, Ethel (Glen) Capps and Lucille (Virgil) Lundy; infant brother Willard and niece Shirley Clark Sevier.