July 29 1928 September 29 2019
Billy’s Obituary Billy Gene Eckhoff, 91, of Cole Camp, passed away Sunday, September 29, 2019, at Clinton Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Clinton. He was born on July 29, 1928, on the family farm north of Cole Camp, Missouri, a son of Gus and Anna Marie (Casto) Eckhoff. He grew up on the farm, was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church at Cheese Creek, and attended the St. John’s Lutheran School. He helped work on the farm and after moving to Concordia, was a general farm laborer. On August 20, 1949, he was united in marriage to Mildred Caroline Dankenbring. The couple lived in Windsor before moving to Cole Turkey Acres south of Cole Camp and were blessed with the gift of two sons, Ray Gene and Vernon Keith. Billy served his country honorably in the United States Army during the Korean War, where he was wounded and spent six months in a Japanese hospital. After his discharge, he moved back to Cole Camp and went to work at the Windsor Shoe Factory in the mid-50s. In 1964, he worked for the Corps of Engineers on the Kaysinger Dam and in 1967, moved to Eudora, Kansas, where he worked for Sunflower Ammunition Plant in De Soto, Kansas. In the late 1960s, they moved to Overbrook, Kansas, where Billy worked for Wolverine Siding Company, retiring in 1988. They moved back to the Eckhoff family farm north of Cole Camp, where he enjoyed flying model airplanes and fishing. He is survived by two sons, Ray Gene Eckhoff and his wife Collette of Osage County, Kansas, and Vernon Keith Eckhoff and his wife Debbie of Wellsville, Kansas; a brother, Tom Eckhoff and his wife Jeana of Cole Camp; two step-grandchildren, Phillip Harris and Crystal Williams; and five step-great-grandchildren, Hunter Harris, Harper Harris, Hadley Harris, Garrett Williams, and Gage Williams. He was preceded in death by his parents, Gus and Anna Marie Eckhoff, his wife, Mildred Eckhoff, and a sister, Annabelle Mefford. The family will receive friends beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2019, at the Fox Funeral Home, Cole Camp, with military honors at 11 a.m. by the American Legion Post No. 305 of Cole Camp. Burial will be in Laurel Oaks Cemetery, Windsor. The family suggests memorial contributions be given to Von-Hipple Lindeau Syndrome or Golden Valley Hospice in care of the Fox Funeral Home, PO Box 37, Cole Camp, MO 65325. Read More
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Billy Gene Eckhoff July 29 1928 September 29 2019.
Death notice for the town of: Cole Camp, state: Missouri