Dale “Sonny” E. Backs

Funeral services for Dale E. “Sonny” Backs, 60, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. today at the First Christian Church in Lawrence. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Glenwood Cemetery in Shelbyville, Ill.
Mr. Backs died Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at his home of pancreatic cancer.
He was born Aug. 14, 1950, in Louisville, Ill., the son of Harry D. and Edna Summers Backs.
Mr. Backs moved to Lawrence from Decatur, Ill., in 1994. He was employed as the general manager of Crown Toyota in Lawrence. Mr. Backs began his career in the automotive industry in 1974 at Fehrenbacher Chevrolet in Decatur. He started in the parts department and was promoted to parts manager, service director, used car manager and then the general manager of the Crown Oldsmobile-Toyota dealership, also in Decatur. Mr. Backs had been associated with Miles Schnaer, the owner of dealerships in both Decatur and Lawrence, since January 1979.
He was a member of the First Christian Church in Lawrence, where he served on the Trustee Board, as an usher, and as chairman of the Personnel Affairs Committee. Mr. Backs was also a member of the Kansas Auto Dealers Association and the National Auto Dealers Association. He was the recipient of several presidential awards by Toyota Auto Sales International.
He married Del Jones Shelton on Oct. 18, 1986, in Decatur. She survives, of the home.
Other survivors include a daughter, Crystal Foreman and husband Mike, Strasburg, Ill.; a son, Christopher and wife Rebecca, Los Angeles; a stepdaughter, Shari Ermicida and husband Eddie, Pismo Beach, Calif.; a stepson, Patrick Shelton, Santa Maria, Calif.; his mother, Louisville, Ill.; two sisters, Pam Huff and husband Alan, Flora, Ill., and Annette Garrity and husband Bill, Clementine, N.J.; and six grandchildren.
The family will receive friends at the church following the service
The family met friends Friday at the Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.
The family suggests memorials to Lawrence Memorial Hospital Oncology Department through the LMH Endowment Association, the First Christian Church or to the Douglas County Visiting Nurses, Rehabilitation and Hospice Care, sent in care of the mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS 66044.
Online condolences may be sent to warrenmcelwain.com.