- Date Of Birth: April 4, 1945
- Date Of Death: April 1, 2017
- State: Illinois
Barbara A. (Mertel) Sarver, 71, of Oglesby, died Saturday, April 1, 2017, at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria after a short illness. She was born April 4, 1945, at St. Mary’s Hospital in LaSalle to Melvin and Arlene (Lyle) Mertel.
She attended Tonica Community Consolidated Grade School and Tonica Community High School, graduating in 1963. She and her high school sweetheart, Arthur Myrle Sarver, were married on June 6, 1964, at St. Mary’s Church in Utica and the couple moved to Oglesby where they were lifelong residents. She gave birth to the couple’s first son, a son, Steven Arthur Sarver, on April 15, 1965, and a second son soon followed, Kevin Alan Sarver, on July 21, 1967. She started her professional career in 1973 working at Central Illinois Contracting Company on Water Street in Peru and then she accepted a position at a local Caterpillar dealership in Oglesby in 1975 and worked there for 28 years. She was a member of Holy Family Church in Oglesby and was tri-race director, along with her husband Art and Gary Carey, of the inaugural Dannon Oglesby 10K run which later became the Oglesby Miller Lite 10K run. That event would go on to become a tremendous source of pride in Oglesby as the 3,000 runners annually made the athletic competition the largest race in downstate Illinois. She was also a member and secretary for two bowling leagues for many years and tri-race director of the Oglesby Turkey Trot, a three-mile run held annually on Thanksgiving morning which is still held today and now features over 1,500 participants. She was also actively involved in all of her son’s activities including Oglesby Boys Little League, Washington grade school events and athletic contests as well as Cub Scouts. Later in life, she enjoyed traveling, was an avid golfer, and loved spending time with her grandchildren including attending all of their special events, academic nights, and athletic competitions. As a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, she also enjoyed watching almost every game on television and especially enjoyed watching her Cubbies win the 2016 World Series championship. She also enjoyed her occasional trips to her favorite destination, the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.
Survivors are her mother, Arlene; two sons, Steven (Mary) Sarver of Oglesby and Kevin (Lisa) Sarver of Omaha, Neb.; four grandchildren, Joshua and Macie Sarver of Oglesby and Jacob and Cassidy Sarver of Omaha; and three sisters, Nancy (Joe) Bernardoni of Utica, Kathy Koscielski of Oglesby and Charlene Heider of Peru.
She was preceded in death by her father, Melvin, her brother Henry and her husband Art, who passed away on April 18, 2010. Since her husband’s death, she served on the Election Board and was a member of Tuesday night cards at Claudette’s, The Swinging Phillies Red Hats, and was treasurer of the IVCH Auxiliary.
