Eli Byler was born May 25, 1945 to Dan and Fannie Byler in Maysville, Ohio. He passed away January 1, 2015 in Nevada, Missouri.
He grew up on a farm in Burton, Ohio. He loved the forests and animals and would spend many nights with a coon hound and a carbide lamp on his forehead, hunting for coons. He attended Bible Schools, traveled to Europe with a choir group, and worked in a hospital in Zanesville, Ohio.
He is survived by three brothers and four sisters, Lydia (Robert) Byler, Barbara (Raymond) Knicely, Rudy, William, Kay (Roman) Miller, James, Ruth (Joe) Miller, and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Mary, two nephews and a niece.
He lived a sad and lonely life. We commit him to a loving Savior who knows every heart’s pain, trusting that He met Eli at the end of the trail. Below is a poem he wrote …probably about 1998.
Happy Trails
In the wilderness I wandered,
beneath the boughs of mighty oak and pine,
Purple clouds and lingering sunlight mix their colors
with the painted hills.
From unknown regions comes a chilly breeze
bringing the scent of dying leaves and winter’s cold.
What fate has brought me to this tryst
with the passing day and the summer ended?
Like the gathering evening shadows is the knowledge
That my allotted time of life is over.
Like this chilly breeze is the ground beneath which I shall be.
As the grandeur and splendor of the autumn twilight is the
land that Jesus the Savior promised.
-Eli Byler