Edith Joan Sawyer

Edith Joan Boyum was born on April 20, 1928 in Fremont Township, Winona County, Minnesota to Martin and Cora (Swiggum) Boyum. She was the fourth of six children. Edith grew up on a farm, one of her tasks there was to drive the team of horses, and later the tractor, for "haying" - cutting and gathering hay for the winter.

Edith attended the Grover one-room schoolhouse through sixth grade. Later, she rode the bus to Peterson High School, graduating in 1946. Occasionally when she missed the bus she would stay with her grandma Swiggum in Peterson. It was a treat because sometimes she would get to eat at the restaurant with her friends.

Edith attended Winona State Teachers College, now part of the University of Minnesota, in Winona. During the summers she stayed with her sister Corinne and worked at Watkins, a manufacturer of bottled household goods. She was a typist there, working on invoices and the like. She was working on her teaching degree; her practice teaching was in a one-room schoolhouse in Homer, Minnesota, at which she taught all eight grades. She graduated with her teaching certificate in 1948.

Edith's first teaching job was in Dodge Center, Minnesota, for one year; after that she taught in Redwood Falls and Spring Valley. When she taught in Waseca, she remembered confronting a boy who stood up and said "I'm not afraid of you. You're just a kindergarten teacher."

Edith met Russell Sawyer at a restaurant in Waseca where Russell was a field man for the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association. He was smitten and followed her home and asked her landlord for more information about her. Their first date was February 25, 1956. Things must have gone well because they were married later that year on August 4, 1956 at Arendahl Lutheran Church in Fillmore County, Minnesota. The rehearsal dinner was held at the Markay ballroom near Rochester; they had a flat tire driving from there to the wedding rehearsal, leaving their guests wondering what had happened to them.

Edith and Russ moved to Owatonna as Russ took a job with Northrup King and Edith taught in Owatonna as well. They moved to Columbia Heights and rented an apartment as they built a home in Crystal Highlands. They moved into their newly completed home in Crystal in 1958. Russ had taken a job with Gould, a job with less travelling so he could be home in the evenings.

Son Jon was born in 1959, and twin sons Jerry and Jeffrey were born in 1962. Edith exchanged her teaching career for that of raising a family.

Edith and her family moved to East Dundee, Illinois in 1976 when Russ's job was relocated. After their sons moved away, Russ and Edith moved to Rockford, Illinois in 1987. They moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2000 where they spent twelve years close to where Jon and Wendy were raising their family. In 2012, they moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois to reside at the Luther Village retirement community, where they were close to Jerry and Linda’s family.

Over the years Edith had a few hobbies; she learned Rosemaling, a Scandinavian painting style. She also liked making lefse every Christmas season, especially with her family. She loved working with numbers, often using paper and pencil to double check computer results. She liked the precision of mathematics.

Edith is survived by her husband Russell; her brother Karrol (Olive Ann) Boyum of Rushford, Minnesota; her sons Jon (Wendy) Sawyer of Fort Collins, Colorado, Jerry (Linda) Sawyer of Glenview, Illinois; and Jeffrey (Lena) Sawyer of Wichita, Kansas; her grandchildren Lauren (Jason) Sample of Clark, Colorado; Megan (Jon) Fry of Urbana, Illinois; Hannah Sawyer of Glenview, Illinois; Kathleen Sawyer of Glenview, Illinois; Michael Sawyer of Olathe, Kansas; Denae (Zane) Berry of Noble, Oklahoma; and great-granddaughter Kennedy Sample of Clark, Colorado.

Edith was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Chester Boyum and Bertram Boyum; and sisters Corrine Olness and Ardith Boyum.