Richard “Dick” Lowell Onken, age 89, of Glidden, IA, passed away on Sunday, June 18, 2023 at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll.
Funeral service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at Peace Lutheran Church in Glidden with Pastor Ryan Roehrig officiating. Soloist and guitarist for the service will be Carl Wilburn. Casket bearers will be grandsons, Tyler, Dustin, and Weston Lucht, Kesley and Keegan Richardson, and granddaughters Jessica and Emily Schroer. Burial will be in the Merle Hay Memorial Cemetery in Glidden with military honors by the Glidden American Legion
Visitation will be held at Peace Lutheran Church on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at Peace Lutheran Church from 9:30 – 10:15 A.M. prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be left at the church or sent to Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home c/o Richard Onken, PO Box 276, Glidden, Iowa 51443 for a later designation.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com.
Richard “Dick” Lowell Onken was the son of Edwin and Rosetta (Best) Onken, born on March 2, 1934, at home in rural Lidderdale, Iowa. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lidderdale. He began his education in the rural school of Jasper Township and transferred in second grade to Immanuel Lutheran School in Lidderdale through the 8th grade. He graduated from Glidden High School before training to be a Depot Agent at Commercial Business College in Omaha. After training, he began working for the railroad.
Dick was drafted into the Army in 1954 and served until 1956, where he served as a High Speed Radio Operator. Upon discharge he moved to San Pedro, California where he worked in a service station that he later became the proprietor of. While working in that service station he met his future wife, Roberta. He sold the gas station and began working as a Oil Field Chemical Representative in the Harbor Area. On August 3, 1958, he and Roberta W. Hoxworth were married at Trinity Lutheran Church, San Pedro, California. From that union they raised three daughters: Debra Dawn, Cheri’ Fawn, Darla Christine. In 1967, the family moved to Soldotna, Alaska for three years, when he was offered a job to work in the oil fields. Thereafter they returned to their San Pedro, California home until moving to Glidden, Iowa in 1974. Dick worked for the companies Amoco, Thermogas and Ferrellgas until his retirement in 1996.
Dick was a member of Peace Lutheran Church where he held several positions over the years. Dick and Roberta enjoyed researching genealogy and traveling. They traveled to Europe multiple times to trace family history. With the information gathered, Dick compiled four family history books. He was a charter member of Carroll County Genealogical Society.
Dick is survived by his three daughters and their families: Debra (David) Lucht of Minburn, Iowa; Cheri (Gary) Schroer of Glidden, Iowa; and Darla (Will) of Manvel, TX; seven grandchildren: Tyler, Dustin, and Weston Lucht, Emily and Jessica Schroer, and Kesley and Keegan Richardson; five great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his wife Roberta in 2015, his parents, his wife’s parents Robert and Grace Hoxworth, brother Kenneth and sister-in-law Beverly (Finley) Onken, sister Arlene (Robert) Tredway and brother-in-law Robert Treadway.