Eldon K. Hoxworth, 97, of Hilton Head, S.C., formerly of Beaver Dam, Ky., passed away on Saturday, March 22, 2014, at the National Health Care of Bluffton, S.C. He was born in London Mills, Ill., on Sept. 30, 1916, to Roy Hoxworth and Geneva Swigert Hoxworth.
His mother passed away three years later in childbirth from the flu epidemic and his father passed away three years later and he was raised by his grandparents. Eldon graduated in 1935 from Galva High School in Galva, Ill. In 1939, he completed two years of training with Caterpillar, Inc., where he established his trade as a machinist. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was hired by the U.S. Navy to repair damaged ships. He later served as a Staff Sergeant in the U. S. Army while stationed in Germany.
After the service, Eldon was employed as a machinist with Peabody Coal Company and moved to Beaver Dam to start a coal mine. Eldon met Audra Duvall at the Beaver Dam Cafe and they were married on Aug. 21, 1948.
He was a member of Beaver Dam Baptist Church where he was a Junior then Senior Sunday school teacher, a member of the church choir, an RA leader and a member of the Brotherhood. He was a lifetime member of The Gideons International.
After retiring, he operated a machine shop at his home where he worked until his late 80’s. In 2007 he moved to Hilton Head Island to be closer to his daughter where he lived in Indigo Pines, an independent living facility.
Survivors include one son, Frank Hoxworth and his wife Pat of Terre Haute, Ind.; one daughter, Cherie Hoxworth Perigo and Larry of Hilton Head, S.C.; three grandchildren, Matthew and Joshua Hoxworth both of Terre Haute and Emily Thompson and her husband Tim of Brownsburg, Ind.; a great-granddaughter, Faith Lauren Thompson of Brownsburg, whom Eldon flew to see after she was born when he was 96 years of age; one brother-in-law, George Duvall and his wife, Mary K. of Beaver Dam; and three nieces, Jo Jo Duvall and her husband Glen, Deanna Duvall Ashby and her husband Lanny and Janice Ashley Hensley and her husband Hunter and their families.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, at Miller-Schapmire Funeral Home in Hartford with Tim Thompson officiating. Burial will follow at Sunnyside Cemetery in Beaver Dam. Visitation with the family will be held from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday at Miller-Schapmire Funeral Home in Hartford, Ky.
The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to The Gideons International, P.O. Box 401, Hartford, Ky. 42347. Memorial contribution envelopes will be available at the funeral home.