Memorial graveside services for Eldon (Lee) L. Backlund will be held in the spring at St Theodore Catholic Cemetery, Albert Lea. Military honors will be accorded by the Albert Lea area Veterans Groups.

Mr. Backlund died Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, at the V.A. Medical Center in Minneapolis, following a long illness. He was 80 years of age.

Lee was born July 22, 1927, in Washington, the son of Owen K. Havey and Nellie M (Carlock) Backlund. He graduated high school in Washington. Lee was united in marriage to his first wife Paula who preceded him in death. In 1989 he was united in marriage to Ann Bresnyan in Highland, Ind. Together they have lived in Albert Lea for the past 18 years.

Lee served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. He was employed for many years as a truck driver, worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Indiana and Albert Lea, and for 12 years he drove a bus for the Albert Lea Bus Service. Lee enjoyed the Silver Sneakers Group at the YMCA and going to the Albert Lea. Bus Service parties and gatherings.

Lee is survived by his wife Ann of Albert Lea; children, Regina (Gerald) Hiatt of Carlyle, Ind., Clark (Catherine) Backlund of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Roy (Barbara) Backlund of Guntersville, Ala., Renata (Michael) Cichocki of Steger, Ill., Carol (Gary) Wilson of Ft. Meyers, Fla., Janet Marie (Robin) Jepson of Overland Park, Kan., Ann Marie (Fugi) Silva of Aurora, Colo., Trulie-Ann (David) Nowacki of Gary, Ind., and Cynthia (Adam) Knopik of Minnesota. There are many grand and great-grandchildren surviving. Also surviving are two sisters, Sharon Rogers of Vincennes, Ind., and Lorraine Dix of Vancouver, Wash.

Lee was preceded in death by his parents; first wife Paula; sisters Bernice Havey and Bernice Kirkpatrick; and brothers Clayton Backlund and Kenneth Havey.