David Gaumer

Visitation: No visitation details available at this time. Funeral: No funeral details available at this time. Memorial: 4:00 PM on July 01, 2011 David R. Gaumer, Sr., 78, of Decatur, died June 25, 2011 at Lincoln Manor Nursing Home in Decatur, Illinois. Gaumer, a former U.S. Congressional staff aide, was a retired journalist who served as a Central Illinois editor of the Decatur Herald & Review. He also was a former Assistant Sports Information Director for the University of Illinois and worked 17 years for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper, serving as assistant sports editor and director of the composing room before the newspaper went out of business in 1986. Dave Gaumer was born March 10, 1933 in Jacksonville, IL, the son of Mahlon C. and Jesse Dell Anthony Gaumer, and step-son of Elsie M. Gaumer, of Danville, Il. He was raised in Danville, IL, were he was an outstanding football, swimming, basketball and baseball athlete before graduating from Danville High School in 1951. He married his high school sweetheart, Betty Lou Peyton, in Danville on June 20, 1954. Gaumer's career as a tight end for William Jewell College was interrupted by the Korean War, during which he served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1957 with duty in Japan and Korea as a radio maintenance repairman. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Journalism in 1960, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He worked as a reporter and editor for the Belvedere, Ill Daily Republican and Middletown, NY Times Herald Record before becoming press secretary for U.S. Congressman John G. Dow of New York in 1965. In 1967, Gaumer returned to the University of Illinois to take a position with the Illini sports information department. In 1970, he joined the St. Louis Globe-Democrat sports staff as a copy editor and sports writer, covering high school, college and professional sports for the St. Louis newspaper. While living in Collinsville, Ill, Gaumer was the first male member of the Collinsville League of Women Voters, was a co-founder of the Collinsville High School Kahok Gridiron and Grapplers Clubs, a long-time member of the Gaslight Gators Swim Team parents board, Cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 39, a journalism instructor at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and active in the United Methodist Men. He joined the staff of the Herald & Review in 1987, retiring in 1995. He was a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Decatur, and a volunteer in the Gum Park after- school program. Gaumer was an Honorary Life Member of the Baseball Writers of America and as such was one of approximately 500 members nationwide who voted annually for inductees into the baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY. He was a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals as well as the Fighting Illini sports teams. In 2003, inspired by their faith, Gaumer and his wife, Betty, co-founded Operation Enduring Support, a Central Illinois, church-based support group for the families of military service members serving overseas. He considered Operation Enduring Support to be one of his proudest and most important accomplishments. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Betty Lou Peyton Gaumer, his sons David R. Gaumer Jr., a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and ordained Deacon in the Catholic Church, and his wife Lisa, of Lansing, KS, and Craig Peyton Gaumer, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and his wife Lynn, of Ankeny, Iowa. He is survived by four grandchildren, Patrick G. Gaumer, Peyton R. Gaumer, Ryan D. Gaumer, and Jesslyn M. Gaumer. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, July 1, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, Decatur, IL. Burial will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis on July 2, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Home, Decatur, Illinois will be assisting the family with arrangements. The family asks that memorials and donations be made to Grace United Methodist Church and Operation Enduring Support of Decatur, Illinois. "
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