from the Holton (KS) Recorder, Monday, April 6, 2009
Richard E. “Dick” Eckert, 86, Holton, formerly of Wetmore, died April 2, 2009, at Ottawa County Health Center in Minneapolis. He was born June 9, 1922 in Arrington, the son of Jacob Richard and Helen Littleton Eckert. He graduated from Denison High School in 1940 and attended Washburn University, graduating with an A.B. degree in education. Mr. Eckert was mobilized as a private with the Kansas National Guard in Holton on Dec. 23, 1940. He served with the 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. He remained in active duty until February 1946. He was hired to teach and coach at Netawaka High School in September 1949. He coached boys baseball and basketball and girls basketball. His boys basketball teams went to the state tournament in 1959, 1960, and 1962. He remained active in the National Guard until going full time in 1963. He was promoted to Colonel on July 15, 1971, and appointed to the position of Chief of Staff-Army-For the Adjutant General Kansas Army National Guard and served that position for nine years before retiring in December 1980 with 40 years of active and reserve service. He was inducted into the Infantry Officer Candidate Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Ga., in May 1991 and the Kansas National Guard Hall of Fame in Topeka in November 1991. He was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives 60th District in 1982 and was re-elected in 1984, 1986 and 1988. He married Maxine E. Kientz on Aug. 24, 1951. She died Nov. 15, 2008. He also was preceded by a daughter, Connie Dick, on May 11, 1994; a son, Gary Ray, on Jan. 2, 2000; and a sister, Nellie Freed, on July 8, 2006. He is survived by a son, Rick Eckert and wife Belinda, Delphos; a daughter-in-law, Kellie Ray, Holton; three sisters, Mary Doyle, Holton, Marceline Marinich, Canton, Ill., and Marjorie Sage, Olympia, Wash.; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Mr. Eckert was cremated. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. April 7 at Mercer Funeral Home in Holton. Family will greet friends from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 6 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Guard Museum, sent in care of Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton, KS 66436. Online condolences may be sent to www.mercerfuneralhomes.com