GENE IHRKE, 56

Services for Gene Ihrke, 56 of Blair who died August 8, 1995 at his home are 2 p.m. Thursday, August 10 at First Lutheran Church in Blair. Graveside services will be in the Blair Cemetery.

Gene L. Ihrke was born July 5, 1939 at Windom, Minnesota to Leon and Florence Kalash Ihrke. He was baptized in 1939 and confirmed in 1952 at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Windom.

He graduated from Windom High School in 1957 and attended Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force on January 15, 1962 and was discharged as a First Lieutenant on January 25, 1974. He was navigator on a F-89J fighter plane during his military service.

He was part-owner and president of Valley-Ridge Construction Company in Windom. In June, 1979, he moved to Blair where he was sales manager for Wick Homes. At the time of his illness he was part-owner of an insurance wholesale company, Bird, Bird and Ihrke.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church and had served on the church council. He was also a past president of Blair Little League, Blair Lions Club, Lutheran Brotherhood Fraternal Group, Blair Area Chamber of Commerce, and Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.

He married Carol Johnson at Bergen, Minnesota on June 10, 1967.

He is survived by his wife, Carol; two sons, J.J. Ihrke, Chicago, Illinois and Andy Ihrke of Blair; his parents, Leon and Florence Ihrke of Windom; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Judy and Jerry Cooper, Dallas, Texas; and Jane and Jim Miller, South Sioux City, Nebraska; and a brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Donna Ihrke, Redwood Falls, Minnesota.

Memorials may be directed to the Blair Little League, First Lutheran Church, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, or the Blair Rescue Squad.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.