Obituary

Detrick Eck died on Sunday (Dec. 5, 2010) at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.

Detrick Eck was born on Aug. 5, 1919, in Meno, Okla., to Joseph and Eva Koehn Eck. He was the third of 10 children. He grew up on a farm in the dust bowl days in the community of New Hopedale Mennonite Church. His family moved to the Newton area in 1947, where he spent the rest of his life. Detrick served as a medic during World War II in an Army Engineering unit in Okinawa and New Guinea. During his later years, he enjoyed reminiscing and telling stories about those days with his son-in-law’s father, who also served in the South Pacific. Detrick married Viola Goertz on Aug. 31, 1951, at First Mennonite Church in Newton, where they remained members the rest of their lives. They raised two children, Barbara and Gary. Detrick greatly enjoyed being a grandfather and made a point of visiting his grandchildren, Grant and Paige, in Minnesota for their birthdays as long as he was able. After their marriage, Detrick and Viola lived on a farm near Elbing, where Detrick worked as a mechanic and drove a propane truck for Frank Epp’s garage. In 1960, they moved to a farm 10 miles south of Newton, and Detrick began working for Hesston Corporation, where he worked for 25 years. He also farmed 80 acres. He farmed by day, and worked the second shift at Hesston.

One of Detrick’s talents was he could strike up a conversation with anyone and learn the most interesting information. He also believed helping other people, whether it was getting out the tractor to pull out cars stuck in the mud or going with the Mennonite Disaster Relief to help those who lost homes in a tornado.
Detrick was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Viola; sisters, Freida, Bertha, Margaret, Lillian and Obera Ruth; brothers-in law, Sam Jantz, Paul Matz, Arnold Guhr, Warren Gunnels, Alvin Suderman and Eldon Schmidt; and sisters-in-law Jane Goertz and Verna Strang.

He is survived by daughter, Barbara, and husband David of New Brighton, Minn.; son, Gary of Newton; grandchildren, Grant and Paige of New Brighton, Minn., sisters, Marie Matz of Kechi, Malinda Guhr and Eva Lena of Newton; brother, Paul, and wife Becky of Elk Falls; sisters-in-law, Irene Schmidt of Newton and Rebeka Eck; brothers-in-law, Laverne Miller of Durham, Arlo Jantzen, Melvin Strang and Kenneth Goertz of Frostproof, Fla. Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Petersen Funeral Home in Newton with family present from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Burial will be prior to the funeral service at 9 a.m. Thursday at Restlawn Gardens of Memory. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Petersen Funeral Home Chapel. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to First Mennonite Church of Newton.