JOHN R. DIERKS, 51

(veteran)

John R. Dierks, 51, of Arlington, died Thursday, Feb. 8, 2001, at Fremont Area Medical Center in Fremont.

Funeral services were held Monday, Feb. 12, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fremont, with the Rev. Owen Korte officiating. A private interment was held, following cremation.

John R. Dierks was born Aug. 15, 1949, in Sheridan, Wyo. He grew up in Wyoming and graduated from Basin (Wyo.) High School, and from Chadron State College in 1971. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and, following his discharge, he taught business and coached all sports in the communities of Perry, Baileyville and McGracken, Kansas, as well as Tilden, Neb. He also taught at Platte College of Business in Topeka, Kan.

In 1991, following his move to Arlington, he began teaching at Metro Community College at the Omaha area campuses.

Mr. Dierks was a member of the Nebraska State Education Association; Nebraska Vocational Teachers Association; Nebraska Business Teachers Association. He was listed in the “Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.” Mr. Dierks was a four-time Kansas “Teacher of the Year” and a six-time Kansas “Basketball Coach of the Year,” as well as “City College Teacher of the Year” in Kansas.

On July 23, 1974, he married Karen E. McCaffrey in Yankton, S. D.

He is survived by his wife; a son, Tracy Dierks and his fiancée, Tricia Barger, both of Omaha; a daughter, Kari Dierks of Arlington; his parents, Jerry and Joyce Dierks of Thermopolis, Wyo.; brother, Jay Dierks of Denver, Colo.; and brother and sister-in-law, Jeff and Carla Dierks of Thermopolis; and a sister and brother-in-law, Jenny and Mick Kaser of Buffalo, Wyo.

Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society or the American Diabetes Association.

Reckmeyer-Moser Funeral Home in Arlington was in charge of arrangements.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

FindaGrave memorial # 44862529