Herbert Ewing

CAIRO, Ill. -- Herbert Halliday Ewing, 93, of Cairo died Saturday, April 9, 2011, at Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau.

He was born March 11, 1918, to Virginia Halliday and Edgar Park Ewing of Findlay, Ohio. He was the grandson of H.H. Halliday and Mary Maud Mason. Herb was adopted by Van Andrews upon his marriage to Virginia in 1926.

Herb attended Cairo High School a year, Kemper Military Academy five years, and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1940 with a bachelor of science degree and a commission as second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. At the university he starred in track and field, was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and met his wife to be, Evelyn Denning.

His orders for active duty came in 1941 and he married Lynn while at Company Commander School in Alexandria, La. Herb was a member of the 128th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, E Company (rifle platoon) and 3rd Battalion, M Company (heavy weapons) and left for duty in the South Pacific in 1942. Herb's first daughter was born in 1942, and he did not see her until his return in 1945, by which time he had been promoted to major.

Herb returned to Cairo to run the H.H. Halliday Sand Co., and welcomed the arrival of his second daughter, Dana, in 1946.

As an active reservist, Herb was called back to duty in 1950 to train for and lead an intelligence task force behind enemy lines in North Korea. In 1952 he returned to Cairo and the sand company and remained a reservist in the Illinois National Guard, 44th Division 3rd Battalion. Herb was promoted to lieutenant colonel U.S. Army Reserve.

Having owned and managed an active business on the Ohio River, Herb remained interested in and knowledgeable about the river for his entire life. For many years Herb was an avid golfer and member of the Egyptian Country Club. He served on Cairo's Police Commission in the 1970s, and was a member of and frequent presence at the Elks Club and VFW hall.

Herb was preceded in death by his daughter, Virginia Lynn "Vicki" in 1996.

He is survived by a daughter, Dana Bloomberg of Palo Alto, Calif.; two grandchildren, Megan Lynn Johnson of Queensbury, N.Y., Christopher Winters of Williamstown, Mass.; and five great-grandchildren, Nathan, Catherine, Sarah, Olivia and Grace.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday at Barkett Funeral Home Sycamore Street Chapel in Cairo.

Graveside service will be at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Mound City National Cemetery, with Dr. Larry L. Potts officiating. Military honors will be provided by area veterans organizations and the United States Army.

At the request of the family, expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to Magnolia Manor in Cairo or Cairo Public Library in memory of Mr. Ewing.