Bruce A. Eichhorst

Bruce A. Eichhorst

Bruce A. Eichhorst, age 67, of Kearney, passed away Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at his home. We will be having Bruce's life celebration Saturday, October 12, 2024 at Harmon Park Activity Center (3100 5th Avenue, Kearney, NE) from 10am to 1:00pm. No flowers, please. Memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.

Please visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence. Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services in Kearney is assisting the family with arrangements.

Our dad Bruce Alan Eichhorst (Oct. 10, 1956 - Sept. 18, 2024) would have liked to live another 20 years, but cancer had other ideas.

He was born in Oshkosh, WI to Lyle and Millie (Meyer) Eichhorst where he grew up with 2 younger brothers, Bart and Dean, and 1 sister, Barbara. As a kid he did the usual stuff, except for perhaps putting some popcorn up his nose that greatly concerned his first grade teacher who recommended he might not be mature enough to advance to second grade. Dad joined the US Navy after graduating from Oshkosh North High School. Assigned to a carrier out of Key West, FL, he cruised to Cuba, the Mediterranean, and the North Sea. His aversion to alcohol might be attributed to drinking warm beer in Germany and taking an unpleasant Liberty Boat ride back to the carrier where he remained in bed for the next 2 days.

Dad met mom, Jean Marie Patterson, on a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh combined Biology-Geography Departments field trip. He was concerned she might fall into a bonfire one night during some partying, but mom strongly refutes that assertion. A little more than a year later they were married on June 22, 1985. They lived in Grand Forks, ND for 12 years, where he received a Biology PhD from the University of North Dakota. They had the 3 of us, too, Connor (Lincoln, NE), Phoebe Marr (Jared) (Austin, TX), and Ciara (Seattle, WA).

A passionate field biologist and teacher, he started out studying the American Coot , turned to Western and Clark's grebes, and ultimately became enamored with skinks! He liked the field so much, that his honeymoon with mom was a Minnesota camping trip featuring National Wildlife Refuges. She was a good sport. As a teacher, he wanted his students to call him Bruce and was known to wear topic-coordinated t-shirts of animal poop, SpongeBob SquarePants or a favorite Green Bay Packers or Star Wars one.

Our Kearney neighborhood friends called him Biology Bruce. We had mist nets in the yard to catch and band birds, turtles, snakes, bats, and other types of 'rescued' creatures until they could be returned to a more appropriate environment. We loved it.

One of my favorite memories of dad was watching the Simpson's with him when I was little (mom didn't really approve) and going to a Green Bay Packers game (Connor). I loved that he indulged us anytime we wanted ice cream, was silly, and cheered us on in our interests (Phoebe). Mine is that he always loved to watch TV with me, go to the movies, and taught me about animals especially our turtles Berry, Lemon, and Francine. Plus, he helped me with math even if I would cry and scream (Ciara). We all loved our dad. I treasure his joyful, loving smile when we married and he first saw his beautiful babies (Jean).

Connor, Phoebe, Ciara, and Jean Eichhorst