Obituary Edwin Carl Sarman

A funeral for Edwin Carl Sarman, 82, a Gardnerville resident, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Gall Catholic Church.

Visitation will be from 9-10 a.m.

Mr. Sarman died March 26, 2002 at Washoe Medical Center. He was born Dec. 15, 1919, in Reno, to Fredrick and Marie Sarman.

His paternal grandparents were German immigrants who homesteaded near Genoa. His father married Marie Seaman, an immigrant from Hanover, Germany, in Gardnerville in 1903. His father operated a flour mill which was powered by the old power dam on the East Fork of the Carson River. The flour was milled as Ladies Best and won a gold medal at the San Francisco Exposition in 1915. His parents later moved to Coleville where he grew up.

He attended elementary school. He graduated from Douglas County High School in 1940.

He married Lois Rabe Feb. 1, 1945.

Mr. Sarman built homes in Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe and later assumed the duties of the ranching operations of the Rabe Ranch in the Carson Valley. In 1966, he extended the ranching operations by purchasing a ranch near Lamoille. He was active in the ranching operations until his death.

He was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Farm Bureau, Nevada Cattlemen, Soil Conservation District and other organizations. He was a strong supporter of land conservation and water resource management and received the award of Farmer of the Year in 1970 from the Soil Conservation District. He was also an original supporter of building a dam on the East Fork of the Carson River.

He served in the U.S. Army as a communications chief for the Army Air Corps from 1940-45 and in North Africa and Europe during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star.

He was preceded in death by sisters Freida Pitts, Edna Araujo, Mabel Perry, and brothers John Sarman and two brothers who died in early childhood Freddy and Willy.

Among his survivors are his wife Lois and children Elizabeth Woodbury of Elko, Mary Stephans of Minden, Edwin Jr. and William, both of Elko, Stanley of Reno, Paul of Elko and Michael of Gardnerville; sister Eva Arigoni of Carson City; 13 grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

Burial will be at the Garden Cemetery in Gardnerville.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Gardnerville Kiwanis Club or the Carson Valley Historical Society.

FitzHenry's Carson Valley Funeral Home, Gardnerville, is in charge of arrangements.