Dennis Paul Speed

Dennis Paul Speed was born February 4, 1942 in Bay City to Joy Speed and Elsa Krueger.

The handsome young man married the love of his life, Barbara Jean Kornfuehrer in 1963. They loved each other for 62 wonderful years. Their family grew to include 2 daughters, Dawn Denise Dietzel and Lana Gail Reimann.

Dennis, who liked to introduce himself as "Speed, Dennis Speed" was a proud, hard working man whose character was built out of the tragic and, what he always remembered as the saddest time of his life, losing his own daddy at the young age of 15 in a car accident that forever changed the lives of him and his sisters, Linda and Judy. "Bubba", as he was known to his sisters, spent his formidable years being raised by an Uncle in Lubbock, TX. He was not afraid to work hard and was determined to succeed in all his endeavors.

Dennis was the best daddy ever! There was so much love in his heart for all of his Girls, momma included! He was always willing to work hard for his family and confided that on occasion he had taken on jobs that he had no idea how to do but had always managed to teach himself. One such job was heliarc welding in Austin. He often recounted how much he loved that job and how hard it was to leave it when they returned to Victoria. Upon returning to Victoria, he soon landed a job with Union Carbide in Seadrift where he went on to build a successful career as an outside machinist for 30 years before his retirement in 2001. During those years he also built and operated Speed's Custom Welding on evenings and weekends in Victoria. He enjoyed competitive bicycling around Victoria and was proud to have completed the MS150 bike ride from Austin to Houston.

Dennis and Barbara built a wonderful life together. They played dominoes, went dancing and made many happy memories vacationing in all but one state (Virginia) while they took many camping trips around the US with friends.

Their lives were filled with joy when they welcomed 5 grandchildren Andrew, Heather, Kayla, Melanie and Jonathan throughout the years.

Dennis took up woodworking in his retirement and pursued it with the same passion for detail as he had done throughout his life. Many family members will remember his creativity and love for many years to come because of these treasured gifts.

Dennis was very proud of his girls and treasured his sons-in-law Jeff Dietzel and Jeff Reimann.

Retirement also welcomed many weddings of grandchildren Andrew (Brandy) Dietzel, Melanie (Christopher) Smith, Heather (Barton) Braeuer, and Jonathan (Siobhan) Dietzel and the birth of 6 great-grandchildren Aidan, Grayson and Holden Dietzel; Emerie and Brayden Smith; and Stella Braeuer. Dennis was anxiously awaiting Kayla and her fiancée Ryan's upcoming wedding.

Dennis was proud to be a veteran serving in the Army with the rank of SP4. He was also a member of First English Lutheran Church and Hermann Sons Lodge.

Dennis is survived by his sister, Linda Goines from LaPorte Tx, 3 nephews and a niece.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Joy and Elsa Speed and his sister Judy Brown. He has journeyed on to Heaven to await the arrival of his beloved family.

The family wishes to extend special thanks to Renee Littles and her staff at Gentle Hearts for all their love and care. Memorials may be made to First English Lutheran Church.

Pallbearers will be Andrew Dietzel, Jonathan Dietzel, Ryan Arnold, Barton Braeuer, Christopher Smith, William "Bill" Boltz, David Williams and Ronnie Fajkus.

Honorary Pallbearers are his nephews Fred Goines, Don Ray Goines and Roy Goines.

For those unable to attend the service, it will be live streamed on First English Lutheran Church's Facebook site