Pantagraph – October 5, 1970

Mrs. Decema Lakin Gerard, 23, of 603 Hester, Normal, died at 3:00pm Sunday (yesterday) at Mennonite Hospital.  She had been ill for a year and entered the hospital 12 hours earlier.

Funeral services will be at 10:00am Wednesday at the Flynn Funeral Home and at 10:30am at Epiphany Church.  Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 3:00 to 9:00pm Tuesday at the funeral home with prayer service at 8:00pm.

She was born on September 29, 1947 in Bloomington, a daughter of George and Frances Billby Lakin.  She was married to Stephen Gerard December 28, 1968 in Normal.

Her husband survives along with her parents, 102 N. Cottage, Normal; a sister Deborah of the Cottage address; another sister, Mrs. Sue Ray, Medford, Oregon; a grandmother, Mrs. Jennie Lakin, 607 W. Jefferson; and a grandfather, Frank Billby, Mechanicsburg.

She was a 1968 graduate of the College of St Theresa, Wenona, Minnesota, and was a graduate student in biology at Illinois State University.  She was a member of Epiphany Church.

Memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society.