David Dirksen

David Dirksen, 85, Topeka, Kansas, former Sedgwick area resident died January 10, 1991 at Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka.

He was born April 1, 1905 at Lehigh, Kansas, the son of Peter P. amd Elizabeth Loewen Dirksen. After being orphaned at the age of 12, he worked and stayed with farm families for his room and board. It was during this time that he worked for the Bierschbach Brothers, Walter and the late John Bierschbach. During these years he finished grade school and started high school before dropping out to make a living.

He married Martha Agnes Bierschbach December 2, 1925 at Newton, Kansas. They moved to Wichita at that time and resided there for 60 years before moving to Topeka in 1990. He worked in the wholesale grocery business and was employed by Boeing Aircraft, Wichita, during World War II. Following the war he did carpentry work and was construction superintendent for McClellan Homes, Wichita. In 1959 he went to work for USD 259, Wichita, retiring in 1971.

He was a member of the Wellington Place Baptist Church; Sunflower Lodge No. 86; AF and AM; and the Wichita Consistory of the Scottish Rite, all of Wichita.

Survivors: wife of the home; one son, Lowell K. Dierksen, Topeka; sister, Marie Thiesen, Goessel, Kansas and two grandchildren.

Services were held at Cochran Mortuary Chapel of Roses, Wichita. Burial was in the Halstead Cemetery.