BOYER
WATSEKA — Ronald E. Boyer, 85, of Watseka, a native of Buckley, died at his home on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.
Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, at the Knapp Funeral Home in Watseka and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Woodworth. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at the church, followed by burial at the GAR Cemetery in Watseka.
Born May 4, 1940, at Paxton Community Hospital to Kenneth and Helen (Trout- man) Boyer of Buckley, he attended school in Buckley before his family moved to Champaign.
Mr. Boyer graduated from Champaign Central High School in 1958. While he was accepted to Harvard University for both college and law school, he chose to attend the University of Illinois and graduated with a degree in political science in 1962 while a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. After college, he attended the University of Chicago and received his juris doctorate in 1965.
After completing his education, Mr. Boyer served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1969 and was stationed in Korea from 1966 to 1967. He was honorably discharged in 1969 after achieving the rank of captain.
Mr. Boyer practiced law in Iroquois, Kankakee, Ford and Champaign counties for more than 50 years and served as Iroquois County state’s attorney from 1968 to 1976. Before the state moratorium, he was one of the few lawyers in the state qualified to represent defendants who were eligible for the death penalty.
Mr. Boyer was married in 1967 to his first wife, Esther Deszcz. After divorcing, he met and married Sandra Zeedyk in 1996. They spent 29 years together, building a life and home filled with family and friends while raising their grandson, Jordan.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his parentsin law, Lambert and Lorene Zeedyk; two siblings, Jack Boyer and Marlene Luecke; two children, Sarah Boyer and Anna Boyer-Killion (John); two stepchildren, Matt Clark (Melody) and Michelle Fombelle (Rick); six grandchildren, Bryant Boyer-Killion, Jordan Bradford (Jenna), Jacob Clark, Whitney White, Tyler White and Rylee Boyer-Killion; four great-grandchildren, Ellie, Ayden and Jaxon White and Stone Bradford; four siblings-in-law, Sharon (Dennis) Huber, Duane (Shirley) Zeedyk, Nancy Gerdes-Hibsch, and Lial (Sherri) Zeedyk; numerous nieces and nephews; and his dog, Phoebe Buffay.
Mr. Boyer had a lifelong passion for the Chicago Cubs and often took the train alone as a preteen from Buckley to Chicago to watch them play. While in law school, he would regularly attend Cubs games and sat in the bleachers where tickets were only a nickel. He also loved to watch Fighting Illini and Chicago Bears games and to attend his children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events. He loved to travel and went on many cruises and trips to England, Maine, Mexico, Biloxi, Miss., and Las Vegas, Nev.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Iroquois Memorial Hospice or St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Woodworth.
Memories may be shared at knappfuneralhomes.com.