Grady LeMar Marchman Jr.

Grady “LeMar” Marchman Jr., age 95, of St. Elmo, Illinois passed away at 9:15 p.m. Monday, May 16, 2022 at St. Anthony Memorial Hospital in Effingham.

Memorial service will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 23, 2022 at First United Methodist Church in St. Elmo with a 30 minute visitation prior the service. Pastor Dan Laack will be officiating. Interment will be at Maplewood Cemetery in St. Elmo at a later date. Memorials may go to Wounded Warriors or the donor’s choice. 

LeMar was born on June 20, 1926 in Burkburnett, Texas, the son of Grady LeMar Marchman Sr. and Esther (White) Marchman. He married Billye Jo Wagner on September 10, 1949 in Kingsville, Texas. Together, LeMar and Billye Jo moved to St. Elmo, Illinois in 1952. LeMar attended A&I University in Kingsville, Texas where he received his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry. Prior to college, at the age of 17, LeMar joined the Navy and was assigned to the LST 681 (Landing Ship Tank) in Pearl Harbor. He served as a Motor Machinist’s Mate. LeMar fought in the Lingayen Gulf and Okinawa Invasions. After the war, he stayed on the ship on its slow voyage home, standing on the deck as the 681 passed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco before being discharged from the Navy.

His first job was working for his father at the Grady Marchman Oil Well Servicing Company & General Contractors in St. Elmo. After approximately 20 years, he left the business and began working for ConTel Telephone Company as a telephone engineer designing layouts and installations. He worked for ConTel in Altamont for 25 years. He retired at 65.

He was an avid bridge player and was a member of several local bridge clubs, a member of the Masonic Lodge, and served as Worthy Patron several times for the Order of the Eastern Star in St. Elmo. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of St. Elmo where he also participated in the Chancel Choir. He was a member of the Community Choir founded through FACE of Effingham. He loved to draw and paint and took several courses under Bob Barker. Later, he taught art to high school students prior to the establishment of the art program in St. Elmo. He built and painted scenery for the St. Elmo High School musicals for nearly 15 years and then for his daughter in Peotone, Illinois. He loved to travel around the world with his wife, Billye Jo. He traveled all over the United States and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Ireland, Belize, Ecuador, and The Galapagos. With his wife and daughter, he drove to Alaska via the Alcan and Kaiser Highway passing though the Arctic Circle. He rode a mule twice down the Grand Canyon, which was his favorite place to visit. He found great joy in Heli hiking in Baraboo and the Bugaboo Mountains with his wife and daughter.

He is survived by his sons, Grady LeMar (Lee) Marchman III (wife Mary) of Clayton, Georgia and Jay Marchman (wife Lori) of Hensley, Arkansas; daughter, Melissa Marchman of St. Elmo; grandsons, Christopher Marchman (wife Amanda) and Timothy Marchman.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Grady LeMar Marchman Sr. and Esther Marchman; his beloved wife, Billye Joe Marchman.

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