John Kuecker

Kearney resident, 79

KEARNEY - John F. Kuecker, 79, of Kearney died Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, at his home.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at First Lutheran Church with the Revs. Eric Lesher and Rebecca McDermott officiating. Burial will be at Kearney Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Monday at Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services and one hour before services Tuesday at the church.

He was born March 21, 1932, in Webster, S.D., to Edwin and Lillian (Ericson) Kuecker.

On Aug. 29, 1958, he married Evelith "Evy" Engelsgaard in Sinai, S.D.

Survivors include his wife; sons, William Kuecker and Jay Kuecker and his wife, Marcia, all of Kearney, Mark Kuecker and his wife, Ann, of Elkhorn and Rodney Kuecker and his wife, Tracey, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; grandchildren, Jon, Luke, Jenna, Seth, Aaron, Ryan, Ellie, Dalton, Garrett, Kayla, Jaylynn and Eva; sister, Betty Glosimodt and her husband, Jim, of Watertown, S.D.; brothers, Ed Kuecker and his wife, Mary, Charles Kuecker, Paul Kuecker and his wife, Shirley, David Kuecker and his wife, Debbie, and Roger Kuecker and his wife, Carol, all of Webster; sisters-in-law, Lorraine Engelsgaard of Santa Paula, Calif., and Mildred Schill of Huron, S.D.; brothers-in-law, Arley Engelsgaard, of Lafayette, Colo., Duane Engelsgaard and his wife, Rosie, of Citrus Heights, Calif., and Glen Engelsgaard and his wife, Charlene, of Visalia, Calif.; and several nieces and nephews.

He and his wife were married at Sinai Lutheran Church.

John graduated from Webster High School in 1950 and Northern State Teachers College in Aberdeen, S.D., in 1954 with a bachelor of science degree in education, majoring in physical science, mathematics and biology.

John taught high school chemistry, physical science and biology at Sisseton, S.D., for two years in 1954-1955 and 1956-1957 and completed a bachelor of science degree in chemistry at the same time at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, S.D., and graduated in 1958.

He completed a master of science degree in chemistry in 1962 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1965. He served as a graduate assistant while working on his degrees at UNL from 1958 to 1965.

He taught chemistry at Doane College in Crete for two years (1963-1965) before joining the Chemistry Department at Kearney State College in 1965 as a professor of chemistry. John retired in 1996 after teaching at KSC and the University of Nebraska at Kearney for 31 years. He served as a Chemistry Department chairman for several years and was proud to be a chairman of a National Education Science Foundation project.

He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and wife and traveled a great deal. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, rock collecting and polishing, making jewelry, stained glass, photography, reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing card games, woodworking and traveling all over the United States and Canada. He even enjoyed going overseas to Germany, Egypt and Norway. He also had a keen interest in the beginning of personal computers back in the 1970s and wrote several computer programs.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church and in the earlier days, he served on the church council, took part in Bible study group, taught the Bethel Bible Series and was a sound technician and usher. He was a member of the Fort Kearney Lapidary Club, Sons of Norway, American Chemical Society and Opdalslag.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister and brother-in-law, Mary Ann and Alvin Olson; and sister-in-law, Molly Kuecker.

Memorials are suggested to the family for designation later.

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