J. Eldie Coplan

Aledo, Illinois Funeral services for J. Eldie Coplan, 88, formerly of Aledo, Illinois, are 11 a.m. Wednesday at Trimble Funeral Home, Aledo, with The Reverend John Crede officiating. Burial is 2 p.m. Wednesday at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Kewanee, Illinois. Visitation is one hour before the services at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Aledo United Methodist Church or Mercer County Senior Citizens. Mr. Coplan died Saturday, March 8, 2003, in Barton W. Stone Christian Home, Jacksonville, Illinois, where he had resided for the past four years. He was born August 13, 1914, in Colchester, Illinois, the son of Asa Garfield and Eva Mae (Clayton) Coplan. He married Bernice Newman on August 19, 1936, in Kewanee, Illinois. Eldie graduated from Wethersfield High School, Kewanee, in 1932, and from the University of Illinois in 1937. He received a masters degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University in 1938. He served as University of Illinois Extension Advisor for Mercer County for 16 years, from 1967 until retiring in 1983, and was previously extension Advisor in Rushville, Illinois, for 7 years, from 1961 to 1967. Earlier, he was a school teacher in Dayton, Indiana, from 1937 to 1947, and a dairy farmer in Henry County, Illinois, from 1947 to 1961. After retirement, he was Agricultural Consultant to the National Bank of Aledo from 1983 to 1986, and then was associated with Trimble Funeral Home, Aledo. He was past president of the Aledo Kiwanis Club, Chairman of the 1984 Mercer County Red Cross Fund Drive, a member of the Aledo United Methodist Church, Illinois Agriculture Association, and the National Association of Extension Advisors, an active volunteer with the Mercer County Meals on Wheels program, and a former member of the Rushville Rotary Club. Eldie is survived by his wife, Bernice; a son and daughter-in-law, Ben L. and Cheryl Coplan of Brattleboro, Vermont; a daughter and son-in-law, Jane and Thomas Lashmett of Murrayville, Illinois; five grandchildren and their spouses, Gordon and Jeanne Lashmett, Christinia Lashmett, Jason Coplan, Kimberly and George Crisci, and Dawn and Steve Reed; six great-grandchildren; a sister, Grace Miller of Macomb, Illinois; and a brother and sister-in-law, Ralph and Ruth Coplan of Richmond, Virginia. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Franklin Coplan, and sisters, Hazel and Marjorie Coplan. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family by clicking on 'Guestbook' on the right. END OF OBITUARY