The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., July 31, 1975, page 9
Includes portrait
WADE L. (TEX) UECKER
Wade L. Uecker was born March 20, 1908 to Henry and Elizabeth
Young Uecker at Muskogee, Ok.. He died July 27 in Goldendale at Klickitat
Valley Hospital following a long illness.
Uecker lived in Muskogee until he completed high school.
He then worked in harvest fields, working his way west to the Yakima Valley
near Granger in the fall of 1926. It was here he met George and Waldo Klein
who taught him the meat cutting trade and also named him Tex. He worked in
Granger until 1931 when he moved to Goldendale where the Kleins had started
markets.
He managed the old Star Market and also worked in the
market at Klickitat. He also worked in the old Goldendale Meat Market.
In 1987 he was married to Gladys Wiidanen and in 1941
they moved to the Wiidanen ranch near Warwick. The ranch was formerly a part
of the Andrew Wiidanen property which was purchased by Gladys' father, Charles,
and then later by the Ueckers.
The Ueckers enlarged and improved the Hereford cattle
herds. After selling their mountain pasture, they purchased irrigated pastures
in Glenwood and improved their ranch in many ways.
Uecker was very active in the Masonic Orders, beginning
in 1946. He was a member of the Goldendale Lodge No. 31, F. and AM, Goldendale
Chapter No. 36, RAM, Yakima Council No. 12, R and SM, Calvary Commandery
No. 22, KT, Afifi Temple of the Shine, and the Evergreen Chapter, OES.
He was the first Mason in Goldendale to receive the Knight
York Cross of Honour in 1968. He was a member of the Centerville Grange for
33 years. He was a charter member of Christ the King Lutheran Church and
he diligently and faithfully worked to get it established and organized.
Due to ill health which began in about 1972, the ranch was rented out and
he retired from farming.
He is survived by his wife Gladys; two brothers, Hershell,
Bakersfield, Calif., and Edward of Goldendale; two sisters, Pearl Settlemire
of Nevada and Jewel Toutle, Oildale, Calif.; 14 nephews, six nieces and many
grand nephews and grand nieces in Oklahoma and California. He was preceded
in death by his parents, one brother and one sister.
Funeral services were held July 30 at Christ the King
Lutheran Church with Pastor Robert R. Robb officiating. Interment was in
the Centerville Cemetery under the auspices of Goldendale Lodge No. 31, F
and AM.
Active pallbearers were Lewis Walter, Robert J. Cole,
Harley G. Clark, Don Johanson, Ervin Anderson, and Daryl Spalding.
Honorary pallbearers were August Jaeckel, Charles Wilson,
Irwin Robison, George Klein William Ownby, Galen Timpke, Harold Duncan and
Douglas Edlich.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, contributions
be made in the decease's name to Christ the King of Lutheran Church, the
Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children or the American Cancer Society.
The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., July 31, 1975, page 7
"Warwick-Happy Home News" by Louise Mattson
NEIGHBORS MOURN LOSS OF TEX UECKER
The community mourns the loss of a friend and neighbor "Tex" Uecker who passed away July 27. Sympathy is extended to Gladys in her loss of a loved one.
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© Jeffrey L. Elmer