Vernon Lowe Sidler

Resident of Longmont, Colorado for 6 years, and Bella Vista, Arkansas for over 30 years prior. Graduate of University of Illinois – B.S. Economics and Business Administration.

Employed by Northern Trust Bank, Chicago; National Cash Register (Bank Division); Assistant Director, Department of Methodist Men, United Methodist Church; Associate General Council Secretary Treasurer, General Council on Finance & Administration, United Methodist Church, Evanston, Illinois, and Treasurer/Business Manager, California Pacific Annual Conference, United Methodist Church, Pasadena, California.

WWII United States Navy, Construction Battalion #569 October 1943 – April 1946, Pacific Theatre.

Preceded in death by first wife Janis Elise Adsit of 29 years, second wife Charlotte Ruth Zylstra of 20 years, and third wife Charlotte Deitrick Warnock of 20 years.

Survived by son Mark Perry Sidler, daughter Karolee Ann Sidler McLaughlin, daughter Corrine Marie Sidler Donewald, and son Jeffrey Hobart Sidler. Grandchildren Janette Sidler Kieffer, Daniel Sidler, James Sidler, Michael Sidler, Julianne Sidler Dahl, Hawley McLaughlin Vining, Brittany McLaughlin, Janis McLaughlin Marshall, Kailey Donewald Courtis, Ross Donewald, Elaine Sidler Bognar, Ryan Sidler and 23 great grandchildren.

Member of the Allenspark Community Church, Allenspark, Colorado, past Charter Member of the Highland United Methodist Church, Bella Vista, Arkansas, Bentonville Masonic Lodge #56, Bella Vista Nomad Shrine Club, Bella Vista Amateur Radio Group and the Northwest Arkansas Hand Weavers Guild.

Memorial service will be at Allenspark Community Church, 16 Washington St, Allenspark, CO 80510.

In lieu of flowers memorials can be designated for the Allenspark Community Church Endowment Fund.

Vernon’s Professional Career

It’s important to note some of the major events and themes that characterize Vernon’s life well lived. He volunteered for the Navy the day before his 18th birthday rather than register for the draft. After serving his country, he attained his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration and intended to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer. Recognizing the Law was not for him, he went to work in the operations side of finance for The Northern Trust Company, and eventually sales for National Cash Register’s Banking division.

Although he was successful in sales, he felt called in a new direction. Huge cultural shifts were happening in society in the early 1960’s. The Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Riders, John F. Kennedy is elected President, the Berlin Wall is erected, and the start of the Vietnam War dominated the news. At this time Vernon learned of the opportunity to join an arm of the United Methodist Church, “Methodist Men.” He was drawn to the idea of equipping and encouraging men of faith. He was responsible for creating material, garnering supportive resources, speaking at conferences, writing, and traveling extensively in support of the 13,000 chartered Methodist Men clubs.

Over the course of his 6 years in the role, he became familiar with the financial systems of both the Methodist Men and the Methodist denomination as a whole. The use of computers for financial systems was accelerating at an exponential rate within private industry, government, and academia. Less so for faith-based non-profits. He saw an opportunity to leverage his understanding of finance and financial systems, along with his self-taught grasp of computer systems to support the United Methodist Church, based in Evanston, Illinois on the north side of Chicago. Helping to streamline and standardize the financial reporting structure of this larger, global denomination was a massive undertaking which Vernon found immensely engaging and endlessly satisfying. After personally working with each of the Annual Conferences across the United States, Vernon was invited to bring what he had learned in service to the World Council of Churches in New York City on a short-term basis.

After 14 years and increasing responsibility, Vernon’s expertise was sought after outside the boundaries of the Church. Long pursued by the various computer hardware manufacturers he had utilized in large-scale financial installations over the years, he accepted an opportunity to join a firm on the west coast. He left the Church, but after 2 years he realized he preferred the mission of the Church over the quarterly results focus of private industry.

He rejoined the Methodist Church as the Treasurer of the California and Pacific Conference, overseeing the very systems he had put in place many years before. He retired from this work in 1990 and moved to northwest Arkansas.

Faith in Action

Vernon grew up in the “Pullman District” on Chicago’s south side. He attended Fenger High School and together with his family was an active member of the local Methodist Church. They enjoyed a large youth group at the church. The “MYF” or Methodist Youth Fellowship, was an important early part of Vernon’s faith. By serving in the Navy’s Construction Battalion in World War II, Vernon came to understand the importance of hard work, devotion to a cause, and a strong self-confidence. After his service, he enrolled at the University of Illinois on the G.I. Bill.

He met his first wife Janis Adsit there. Sunday evenings were often spent at the “Wesley Foundation,” a campus ministry of the Methodist Church. It was love at first sight for him when Janis played the marimba for the gathered crowd of undergrad students. They dated, got engaged, and Janis changed her major from physical therapy to education, earning her teaching certificate. They moved to the south side of Chicago where they made life-long friends in the neighborhood, raised 3 of their children, Mark, Karolee, and Corrine, and were active in their local church. Baby number 4, Jeffrey, was born just as Vernon was beginning his work with the Methodist Church. The family moved to Glenview, Illinois in 1962.

Sadly, after 29 years of marriage, Janis lost her battle with cancer. At that time, Vernon reconnected with many of his childhood friends, including one who had been part of that tight-knit group of friends in the MYF. Charlotte Zylstra Chapman had recently lost her husband of many years to an extended illness. Their old friendship quickly became a safe place for each of them to grieve their respective losses and begin building new memories together. They moved to southern California, again becoming active members in their local Methodist Church in Laguna Beach, California.

When Vernon retired, they moved to northwest Arkansas where Vernon’s sister Audrey Glass and her husband had retired several years earlier. They, along with many of the new subdivision’s residents worshiped at the Methodist Church in Bella Vista some 20-minutes away. At Vernon’s encouragement, many of those neighbors began worshiping together in Vernon and Charlotte’s living room. With Vernon’s help, the group approached the Bishop of the Methodist Conference and were given permission to start a new church and were soon assigned a recently retired pastor to begin leading their worship services. They soon outgrew the space in their home. They worked with the community development company and were allowed to begin utilizing the real estate sales office on Sunday mornings for worship. After several years of steady growth, they had raised the funds necessary to build a sanctuary of their own on land kindly given to them by the area’s developer, Cooper Communities. That congregation has grown and gone through a number of changes, but still operates as Highland Church of Bella Vista.

After 20 years of marriage, sadly “Charlotte the first” passed away suddenly. Again, the Church played a crucial role in Vernon’s grief and recovery. Charlotte Deitrick Warnock and her husband were among the early members of the new church. She and her husband were good friends of Vernon and “Charlotte the first”. When her husband passed a few years earlier, Charlotte Deitrick Warnock was part of Vernon’s “Care Group” within the church. Then, when Charlotte Zylstra Sidler passed, once again Vernon found a partner with whom he could share his grief and begin having many wonderful adventures.

Unbelievably, after another 20 years of marriage, Vernon was again heartbroken at the death of his spouse. At that time Vernon moved to Longmont Colorado to live near his daughter Karolee and many of his grand and great-grandchildren. He was one of the first residents in a newly opened independent living community. He traveled most Sundays “up the hill” to worship at the Allenspark Community Church in Allenspark, Colorado.

So, after 99 years, a world war, 4 kids, 3 wives, 2 artificial knees, 1 artificial hip, a pacemaker, hearing aids, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and just for fun, a fall that broke 3 ribs, it was time. Luckily, he didn't suffer at the end. A granddaughter, and one son were with him when he passed.