Burton Floyd Echtenkamp
Burton Floyd Echtenkamp
1941 – 2017
Burt passed away on July 7, 2017, after a brief illness. He
was surrounded by his loving wife and daughter. His life was full of travel,
many games of bridge with friends, and spending as much time as possible with
his family.
Burt was born in August 1941 in Wakefield, Nebraska. He was the only child of Esther and Floyd
Echtenkamp. He was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Wayne, Nebraska, and
grew up on the family farm five miles north of town. In school, Burt was active
in sports, 4H, and FFA. One of his most exciting memories was of the time in
grade school when the schoolchildren and their teacher were stranded in a
one-room school house during a blizzard. To rescue them, the men from town gathered horses
and sleighs and rode out to the rural schoolhouse to rescue everyone. He
graduated from H.H. Hahn High School and then attended Wayne State College,
where he met his lovely wife, Linda, in Chemistry class. They soon began
dating, and together learned how to play bridge at the Student Union Building
and as bridge partners they enjoyed many, many bridge games in their 56 years
of marriage.
In 1961, Burt married Linda. He worked for Union Pacific
Railroad for a year and then went back to college. After graduating with his BAE from Wayne State
College, Burt taught Math, Geometry, and Chemistry at Ord High School in Ord,
Nebraska. In 1966 the young family, including first daughter Julie and second
daughter Jean moved to Oklahoma where he attend the University of Oklahoma and
graduated with a Master of Natural Science with a Major in Mathematics. Burt started
his career with IBM in Omaha Nebraska in 1967, as a Systems Engineer. He then
moved up in the ranks of IBM, becoming a SE Manager in St. Louis, and eventually
moving the family to Dallas in 1980 so that he could join IBM’s Software
Development Organization. Burt was an active member in King of Glory Lutheran
Church while they lived in Dallas. In
Texas, many family trips and holidays were spent in their Galveston Beach house
where Burt and Linda were able to watch their grandchildren play for hours in
the sun and sand. After 36 terrific
years, Burt retired from IBM in 2003 as a Senior Business Area Manager. One of
his greatest joys over the years was seeing people he hired develop and grow in
the IBM company.
After retiring, Burt and Linda devoted much more time to
playing bridge and working hard on earning their Masterpoints. They traveled across
the US to attend bridge tournaments. In 2009, Linda and Burt moved to Boise,
Idaho to be closer to their grandchildren. He spent many evenings watching his grandsons
play baseball, compete in Tae Kwon Do, or rock climbing competitions and also
enjoyed visiting his granddaughters in California and watching them compete on
show horses and perform in plays. For their 50
th
Wedding
Anniversary, Burt treated his grandchildren to a vacation in Hawaii adding even
more memories to his and his family’s photo albums. In addition to traveling and seeing the
Northwest, they also went on many cruises, which took them to beautiful sites
all over the world. One of Burt’s greatest attributes was his willingness to
help others and serve God. He was on
many committees at church throughout his life and he regularly visited many
elderly friends at home and brought them communion if they were unable to
attend church.
Burt is survived by his wife Linda, their daughter Jean
(Carl) Pollock, and five grandchildren Sarah, George, Reba, Matt and Vaughn. He
is preceded in death by his daughter, Julie, mother Esther, father Floyd, uncle
Rolly and uncle Lyle. There will be a viewing on Friday, July 28
th
,
from 7:00pm to 8:30pm at Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel. A memorial service will
be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, July 29
th
at Redeemer Lutheran
Church, 2920 Cassia Street, Boise, ID 83705. Officiating will be Pastor Ken
Carrothers. A reception will be held at the church immediately following the
service. Services are under the direction of
Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel. Anyone wishing to make a donation may do so to
the Redeemer Endowment Fund at Redeemer Lutheran Church.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Burton Floyd Echtenkamp, please visit our flower store.
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