Notes
Note for: Gordon Louis Eckberg, 5 JUL 1940 - 19 MAR 1976
(Undated, 1940)
STORK NEWS
Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Eckberg, of Walnut, are the parents of a son, born
Friday, July 5th. Mr. Eckberg (sic) was the former Miss Enid Jegglie.
Notes
Note for: Sherry Lynne Eckberg, 12 AUG 1946 - 17 DEC 1998
(Undated clipping, Bureau County Republican)
WALNUT WOMAN CREATES AND COLLECTS TEDDY BEARS
By Lynne Bechtold
BCR Correspondent
WALNUT--Until a couple of years ago, Sherry Buzard didn't even own a
teddy bear.
Not a white fuzzy one with a red cap riding on a wooder trike.
Not one made out of mink, every inch of its jointed body lined and
hand stitched.
Not even your basic "bag bear"--in a colorful plaid, denim, or paisley.
Certainly not a genuine golden modhair made from material that,
special ordered, run right up there at about $100 a yard.
But she's got them now. Them--and more--about 150 more, in fact.
Though Buzard had always liked crafts--wreaths, pillows, sewing of all
kinds--it wasn't until her daughter's high school home ec sewing project
led her to browse around the fabric shop that she got interested in
sewing up those cuddly bundles which she now has inhabiting every nook
and cranny of her home.
"I was looking for something different to do," says Buzard, who works
as a beautician in her Walnut home. "I've always loved crafts and when I
saw a pattern for a bear--it was a basic bag bear--I thought it looked
like it might be fun to do."
Of course, when you're dealing with something as unpredictable as
bears, you never know what to expect, and in Buzard's case, it seems that
one thing just led to another.
Sewing that first teddy bear taught her that the seams "can get kind
of thick," and Buzard recalls, "The sewing machine I was using then was
old--tempermental--and it would skip. So Jim (her husband) said he'd
take me shopping and buy me a new one for Christmas."
It just so happened that the salesgirl in the sewing machine store was
a bear collector herself. Sherry says, "She got to talking about bears
to me and told me about a magazine I could buy that would help me. Well,
after I left the store, I went out and bought the magazine and read it
from cover to cover."
From that time on, Buzard was trapped--bear trapped--as both a creator
and collector.
Her collecting now takes her to the Schaumberg show once or twice a
year where the ballroom and two adjoining rooms are packed with over 100
booths of exhibitors and sellers.
Recently, she traveled to Missouri--"just to look"--and came home with
five bears.
Flea markets, antique shows and rummage sales are all hunting grounds
for Buzard, who looks not only for the bears, but for accessories
(wire-rimmed glasses, hats, lace collars) as well. This December, she
will travel with her family to Disney World for a teddy bear convention
there.
As word of her interest in bears got around, Buzard found that friends
and relatives kept her in mind. Like the aunt who brought in the old
pink one--only trouble was, it wasn't very pink.
"I worked and worked on that one using a toothbrush and the suds of
Woollite," said Sherry, who often cleans up her "finds." Too much
tampering will decrease the value of an antique bear, however, though
Sherry confesses that she "would never part with any of them."
Her husband, who travels frequently, often comes home with one in his
suitcase.
"Jim's a wrestling fan," says Sherry, "so for his birthday I got him a
Hulk Hogan bear. He loved it, but he kids me that next year for my
birthday I'm going to get wood working equipment."
Though Buzard's creations come in all sizes, she says she doesn't
really use a wide variety of patterns. It's the placement of the eyes,
the way you clip the fabric around the face, the color and texture of
material and accessory (ribbons, bows, hats) that make each one unique.
She uses every kind of material--scraps from sewing projects, sealskin
capes brought in by a
customer, synthetic fur, rabbit fur, mohair, upholstery material.
The hottest looks currently, she says, are in the patchwork designs and
the chenille fabrics--she is already eyeing and old bedspread in one of
her spare bedrooms. She uses a screwdriver to stuff them to varying
degrees of stiffness and plumpness.
"Next year I want to try doing a beanbag poseable," says Buzard, who
will be venturing into new territory next month when she will, for the
first time, display for sale over 50 of her handmade creations at the
Princeton Junior Women's Club Creative Expressions Craft Show.
Buzard hopes that the exposure will put her into contact with others
who are as bear-crazy as she is.
Can she part with them? No problem. She's made duplicates of her
favorites.
"My friends told me, 'You've got to do something with your bears,' "
says Buzard as she sits surrounded by baskets brimming over with....
In the living room, about three dozen bears are bursting out of an
antique trunk; a big blonde pot-bellied bear leans over an antique
school desk; a grapevine bear perches enigmatically on a stereo speaker;
a family of small bears leans comfortably against a Blolosky Bear book.
Buzard adjusts the velvet hat and veil on a prim-looking jointed
bear--the first one she ever made--who has the inalienable right to
center seat on the sofa. "I could talk bears forever."
SHERRY AND HER BEARS (Photo)
Sherry Buzard of Walnut feels quite safe with her den of over 150 bears,
some she has made and some she has collected. She will be among the
exhibitors at the Princeton Junior Women's Creative Expressions Craft
Show next month.
(Undated clipping)
SHERRY BUZARD
Walnut--Sherry L. Buzard, 52, of 214 Meltzer St., Walnut, died
Thursday, Dec. 17, 1998, at CGH Medical Center in Sterling.
Born Aug. 12, 1946, in Princeton to Edmund and Enid (Jegglie) Eckberg,
she married Jim Buzard Sept. 14, 1966, at the United Methodist Church in
Walnut. He survives.
She was a cosmetologist and hairdresser in the Walnut area for 34
years. She was a member of the Walnut United Methodist Church and was
also a well-known Teddy Bear artist.
Also surviving are one daughter, Heather (Eric) Whittington of Ohio,
Ill.; her mother, Enid Eckberg of Walnut; two brothers, John Eckberg of
Walnut and Gary Eckberg of Princeton; one grandson, Shane Eric
Whittington of Ohio, Il.; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father and one brother, Gordon.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the United Methodist
Church in Walnut, with Rev. Richard Hundreiser, officiating. Burial will
be in Walnut Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Garland Funeral
Home in Walnut.
A memorial has been established in her memory to the Walnut Rescue Unit.
LEADER, December 28, 1998
(Photo)
This picture and caption was held out of last week's paper due to the
untimely death of Sherry Buzard. We share the photo with you this week at
Jim's request to publish it in Sherry's Memory, because she loved her
bears and the tree that was created using most of them.
BEAR CHRISTMAS TREE--It's a little different than the average Christmas
tree. Jim and Sherry Buzard have fashioned a tree using about 100 bears
from Sherry's collection to make a Christmas tree. Sherry makes and
collects stuffed bears, with about 150 in her collection. While visiting
the Festival of Trees at the River Center in Davenport, they were
impressed with a similar tree. After returning home Jim made the
framework and attached the bears. The whole thing is encircled by a toy
train at the base and lighted by a spot light. You may just catch a
glimpse of the unique creation while driving on Meltzer Street.
(Undated clipping)
My words are so inadequate to express the outpouring of kindness at the
loss of the love of my wife and Mother of our daughter, Heather. She was
so loved by everyone and will be missed so terribly much by all who loved
her. Life is so barren without her, but to see how everyone came forth
to express their sympathy eases the devastation I feel. The one comment
I heard so much was her beautiful smile, but then I knew that. She was
so beautiful in so many ways. The other comment was how good I was to
her, believe me I got the better part of the deal, she was far better at
being food (ed.-good?) to and for me. This last year was so very
wonderful for both, it had to be God's gift to both of us. It just ended
far too soon.
The Family of Sherry Buzard
Jim, Heather, Eric and Shane