Richard Dean "Dick" Hochstetler

1928 - 2025

Richard Dean Hochstetler

December 29, 1928 - June 1, 2025

Richard Dean Hochstetler, 96, of Rock Island, Ill., passed away Sunday, June 1, 2025, at Silver Cross Nursing at Friendship Manor, Rock Island.

A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 5, 2025, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Moline. Visitation will be held one hour prior, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the church. Inurnment with military honors will be in the Rock Island National Cemetery, Arsenal Island at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island is assisting with arrangements. Memorials may be made to Heartland Hospice or Friendship Manor.

Dick was born December 29, 1928, in Bremen, Ind., to Oscar and Polly (Poyser) Hochstetler. He graduated from Bremen High School in 1946. Dick then entered the U.S. Air Force in 1948 and was honorably discharged in 1952 as a staff sergeant and a Rawinsonde Instructor in the Weather Department at Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Ill.

Through friends, Dick became acquainted with Mary Elizabeth Rensberger, a lovely young lady of rural Bremen, and they were married on October 7, 1950. They had three sons, Michael, Kevin, and Kirk.

Dick began his civilian career with the Army Signal Corp at Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in Laporte, Ind. He served as Central Office Telephone Repairman for the Post telephone exchange. In 1958, Dick moved to the Army Ordnance Command at Joliet, Ill. and after one year moved to New Jersey when the mission transferred to Picatinny Arsenal HQ Munitions Command and was the Safeguard Missile Defense Project Manager. Dick transferred to the Rock Island Arsenal in 1974 in a Liaison position. He later accepted a position with the HQ, Army Munitions and Chemical Command from which he retired in 1983 as a Supervisory Project Analyst with 34 years and four months of combined service. Upon retirement, Dick established his own consulting business which continued for 22 years.

Dick's membership in associations and volunteerism was varied and continued over extended periods for most. He was a bugler with the Laporte Lancers Drum and Bugle Corp, a charter member and Treasurer of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Stanhope, New Jersey, Treasurer of the Stanhope Volunteer Fire Company, a member of the American Legion Post 278, serving multiple terms as Commander, Adjutant, Drill Seargeant, and one term as County Commander; he was active with Alternatives for the Older Adults, an election judge, a tax counselor with the AARP TCE program, Treasurer of the Rock Island Historical Society, a Director on the Board of RIA Federal Credit Union, member of American Legion Post 446, the Association of the U.S. Army, and a counselor with the Moline SCORE group.

Although a lifelong member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, Dick had a great interest in the genealogy and history of his Swiss Amish heritage.

Those left to cherish Dick's memory include his sons, Michael (Mary) Hochstetler and Kirk (Matthew) Hochstetler, and grandchildren, Larissa, Janelle, Nicole, and Rachael.

Dick was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Mary; son, Kevin Hochstetler; and grandson, Ricky Hochstetler.

Online condolences and memories may be shared at www.wheelanpressly.com.