Harold A Bechtel

Harold A. Bechtel

Harold A. Bechtel, 83, of Newton, died Thursday (Feb. 16, 1995) at Kidron Bethel Village Nursing Home.

He was born Aug. 18, 1911, in Philadelphia, Pa., to the Rev. Andrew S. Bechtel and Idella Hauck Bechtel. He married Esther Irene Kuehny in 1934. She died in 1987.

A longtime resident of Deer Creek, Okla., he graduated from Deer Creek High School in 1929 and worked for many years at the Leham Mercantile. He was a member of the Deer Creek Mennonite Church where he served on numerous committees and church boards. In July 1994 he moved to the Kidron Bethel Retirement Village in North Newton.

Survivors include one son, Howard of Sedgwick; two daughters, Elaine Claassen of Whitewater and Wanda Ratzlaff of Newton; two sisters, Marie Baer and Mabel Baer, both of Summerfield, Ill.; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and three [great-]great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one sister, Margaret.

The funeral will be 2 p.m. Monday at the Deer Creek Mennonite Church in Deer Creek with the Revs. Paul Isaak of the Deer Creek Mennonite Church, and Peter Neufeld, formerly of the Deer Creek Church, now of Hutchinson officiating. Burial will be in the Bayard Cemetery in Deer Creek.

Memorials may be sent to the Deer Creek Mennonite Church in care of the Hackler Funeral Home in Blackwell, Okla.