Service: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, Flippinger Funeral Home, Aledo, Ill. Visitation: 5-7 p.m. today, funeral home. Online condolences:  www.fippingerfuneralhome.com

JOY, Ill. — Ledru S. Braucht, 98, of Joy, Ill., died Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, at Mercer County Nursing Home in Aledo.

Burial will be in the Buffalo Prairie Cemetery. Memorials may be left for the Joy United Methodist Church.

He was born May 15, 1911, in Duncan Township to A. Clair and Edna Willits Braucht. On Oct. 27, 1937, he married Evelyn Gifford. She preceded him in death on June 26, 1965.

He received his education in Duncan Township and Aledo, graduating from Aledo High School in 1929. He was the fourth-generation to farm the family farm in Duncan Township.

He was a member of the Joy United Methodist Church. He served the community on school boards for 21 years, serving first on the Joy Board of Education and then on the Westmer Board. His board membership, including serving as president, spanned the years during the consolidation of the Westmer district.

Survivors include his sons, Blaine and his wife, StephanieBraucht, of Joy, and Keith  Braucht and his wife, Lynn,  of Bloomington, Il., grandchildren  Morgan and his wife, Laura, of Jacksonville, Jared of Rock Island, Kevin and his wife, Angie, of Bloomington, Katie of Stafford, Texas, John and his wife, Tara, (of Normal, and four great- grandchildren.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by a son Bryan, a brother John, and sisters Veneta Mayhew, Catherine Bodeen, Dorothy Peirce and Ruth Higgins.