{"id":44944,"date":"2026-08-24T16:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T21:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=44944"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:18:38","slug":"sterling-g-walden-79-of-effingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/44944-sterling-g-walden-79-of-effingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Sterling G. Walden (79) of Effingham"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Sterling G. Walden, 79 of Effingham, passed away on Monday, August 24, 2026 at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Mattoon.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 28, 2026 at the Watson Methodist Church with burial in the Watson Cemetery with military graveside rites. Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. to the time of service, Friday at the church. Memorial donations may be given to the Boy Scouts of America or to Ballard Nature Center. Arrangements are in the care of Bauer Funeral Home in Effingham.<\/p>\n<p>Sterling was born August 1, 1947 in Carlinville, the son of Sterling H. and Doris J. (Slightom) Walden. He married Rhonda Rhodes on August 16, 1975. Sterling was a drummer in the well-known garage band \u201cMystery Meat\u201d and proudly served in the U.S. Navy as a drummer and bugler, playing lead snare. His commitment to his community was evident through his years as a Boy Scout leader and district commissioner, as well as his volunteer work at the Ballard Nature Center. Sterling worked at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Mattoon and later shared his knowledge as an adjunct professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Lakeland College in Mattoon. A true garden enthusiast, he loved all things farming and took great pride in his hobby farm. In his free time, Sterling enjoyed fishing, camping, model trains, and studying the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>Sterling is survived by his wife, Rhonda of Effingham; daughter, Melissa Heuerman (special friend, Matthew Hardesty) of Effingham; son, Sterling C. Walden of Mason; grandchildren, Mazey Heuerman, Kailee Hardesty, and Shevelle Walden; brother, Randy (Kathy) Walden of Franklin, VA and sister, Debbie (Bill) Meyers of Chatham.<\/p>\n<p>Sterling was preceded in death by his parents; son-in-law, Jamey Heuerman; daughter-in-law, Christina (Kuhlman) Walden; and his beloved dog, Patches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sterling G. Walden, 79 of Effingham, passed away on Monday, August 24, 2026 at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Mattoon. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":45137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sterling G. 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