In Memorium ~ John Sigler (1935 - 2009)

I was saddened to learn of the passing of John Sigler on October 16. In addition to being featured in the upcoming documentary, John was a great supporter and resource for this project. You might recall that John's father Joe, was killed in the mine war in 1934.

My condolences to John's family for their loss. He was a great guy.

John Sigler at the grave site of his father
Joe, a mine war martyr. Godspeed, John.

Here's the obituary from the Peoria Journal Star

HANNA CITY - John F. Sigler, 74, a native of Bulpitt, Ill., and a resident of Hanna City, Ill., passed away Friday, Oct. 16, 2009, at the residence of his daughter.

John was born April 23, 1935, in Bulpitt, Ill., to Joseph and Francis (Simmons) Sigler.

He is survived by his son, Michael of Peoria, Ill.; daughter, Angela (Greg) Ruchotzke; grandchildren, Joshua, Emily and Jacob, all of Hanna City, Ill.; and brother, David of Tampa, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister and two brothers.

John retired from Caterpillar in 1999.

He was a member of St. Rita's Catholic Church in Kincaid, Ill.

John had a strong sense of civic duty and was a member of the Optimist Club, Lions Club, Knights of Columbus and VFW. He received the Silver Beagle Award from the Boy Scouts of America in honor of his 28 years in scouting.

John was a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he served from 1954 to 1958 and received the Air Force Commendation Medal for service above and beyond and further served from 1960 to 1961 in the Air National Guard.

John was actively involved in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Div. 8, in East Peoria, Ill., for the past 20 years.

John was a loving father and grandfather who enjoyed working on his boat and spending time with his grandchildren. His friendship and desire to help others was appreciated by many.

Visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Farmington, with a funeral Mass following at 11 a.m. Father John Verrier will be officiating. Burial will follow in Trivoli Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Anderson-Sedgwick Funeral Home, Farmington, Ill., is in charge of arrangements.

To submit online condolences, you may go to www.sedgwickfuneralhomes.com.

Springfield Journal-Register On Sigler Debate

Thanks to Dave Bakke, columnist for the Springfield Journal-Register for his piece on the inclusion of Joe Sigler on the Illinois memorial for fallen police officers. You may read the full article here.

To my mind there's no doubt that Sigler should be included. It seems rather obvious that Sigler's protection was enlisted by Hugh Donnelly a member of the United Mine Workers, because Sigler was a police officer. And later that evening, Sigler sacrificed his life protecting Donnelly.

Joseph Sigler's badge & gun

There also seems to be some question of Sigler's occupation at the time of his death. During the mine war, it wasn't unusual for miners to also be deputized part-time law enforcement officers.

But for Sigler this wasn't the case. While Sigler had been a miner, the September 15, 1934 Taylorville Breeze-Courier reported: "Mr. Sigler was employed in the mines along the Midland for several years but for the last several months has been employed as special policeman at Bulpitt." Clearly his sole occupation at the time of his death was police officer.

And even though Sigler was a member of the Progressive Miners of America, his decision to protect UMWA member Donnelly demonstrated that Sigler valued life and civic duty above all. Too often the sensational violence of the mine war obscures the fact that a number of the founding members of the Progressive Miners were committed pacifists. To my mind, Sigler's actions were consistent with the methods set forth by those leaders as well as the basic tenets of community unionism.

Let's hope the overseers of the state memorial are wise enough to add Sigler's name to the monument. He earned it.