Dr. Willard "Wid" Jean Eyer, M.D., 81 of Olney died Saturday, February 11, 2006 at Richland Memorial Hospital following a long and hard battle with cancer of the neck and throat.

Burial in the Eyer/Scherer Cemetery on east Seven Hills Lane in rural Olney. Full military rites at the funeral home.

Dr. Eyer was born on December 23, 1924 in Olney, the third of four sons born to William Herman Eyer and Mary Irene (Schmoker) Eyer. He graduated valedictorian of the Class of 1942 from Olney Township High School in Olney. Upon graduation, Dr. Eyer moved to Chicago where he worked as a junior bank messenger during the day and attended night school at Northwestern University, majoring in engineering preparatory.

In 1943 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served 39 months as a pilot, flying P-47 fighter planes during World War II, earning two Battle Stars, an Air Medal, American and European Theatre Ribbons, Victory and Occupation ribbons-Germany and the Presidential Unit Citation.

He married Helen Erlene Brown of rural Clay City on September 7, 1947.

He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. in 1950 and the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Medicine in 1954. He returned to Olney in May of 1955 where he practiced medicine for 48 years, serving as the family doctor to five generations of Olneans and families of surrounding communities.

Published in Olney Daily Mail (IL)