



Alvin Engum of Sanford loved his country. Every Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day he would display the American flag and then help his daughters decorate their bikes in patriotic colors so they could ride them in local parades.

The retired civil engineer and Army Air Corps veteran of World War II died Sunday of congestive heart failure. He was 85.

Born and raised in Taylor, Wis., Engum studied at the University of Wisconsin in LaCrosse.

But in 1942, after the United States entered World War II, Engum left college and enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was sent overseas. He first landed in northern Africa and then served in France and Italy, his daughter Sheila Engum said.

After the war, he returned to Wisconsin and worked as a civil engineer for the government from training he received in the military.

It was a job he held for about 30 years, until he retired because of health problems.

In 1979, he and his family moved to Central Florida. But every summer, Engum and his wife would travel back to their home towns.

"He loved it [Wisconsin]. To him, it was God's country," Sheila Engum said.

He also enjoyed woodworking and was known for crafting decorative yard ornaments such as birdhouses, Santa figures and animal figures.

He was Lutheran and a member of the Masons and Eastern Star.

Survivors also include: wife, Mary Engum; daughters, DeMaris Rumpel, Lubbock, Texas, Annette Skaar, Gravois Mills, Mo.; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren.

Arrangements are being handled by Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, Oaklawn Chapel.

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