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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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