Kenneth Lavern Stickler

EUGENE, Ore. - Kenneth Lavern Stickler was born June 19, 1937, to Harley and Thelma Stickler in Murdo, South Dakota. Ken was the 8th of 9 children and he grew up on the family farm near Okaton, South Dakota. He attended schools in Okaton, Belvedere, Pierre and Murdo where he graduated from high school. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1955 and requested that he be stationed in Germany so he could see the world. While there he got to visit the world's fair in Brussels, Belgium, in 1958 as well as Denmark. In January of 1960 he married Gail Whitaker in Murdo and they had two children, Laverna Kaye and Aaron Kirk. For the first four years of their marriage they lived on a farm near Murdo and then moved to Rapid City where they lived for the next 10 years. While there, Ken was involved in home building, managed a lumber yard and then started his own construction company where his motto was "I've got a hammer". In 1974 the family moved to Eugene, Oregon, where Ken attended and graduated from Eugene Bible College and then continued working in the construction industry. In 1988 he moved to Hawaii and lived there for five years before returning to Eugene. After that he worked at both the Marque and River Park Nursing Facilities as a maintenance person. On August 14, 1993, he married Sharon Martz and in addition to sharing the last 18 years together, he became a father figure to her children, Tim and Cindy, and a grandfather to their kids, Alyssa, Noah, Joel and Levi. After his retirement Ken became a volunteer at Riverpark. He passed away peacefully December 7 at Riverpark after his long battle with Lewy Body disease. He was preceded in death by his parents, and 3 brothers, Glen, Darrel and Melvin. He is survived by his wife Sharon, sisters Isabel Ellwanger of Pierre South Dakota, Hazel Foley of Long Beach, California, Bonnie Dennis of Rapid City, South Dakota; brothers Bobby of Rapid City and Virgil of Murdo, South Dakota; daughter LaVerna Morris and husband Paul of Raleigh, North Carolina, son Aaron and wife Diane of Springfield and five grandchildren; Colton, Carlie and Chase Stickler and Ketan and Sophie Morris. Memorial services were at Calvary Open Bible on Saturday, December 10.