TED GOETZ

Theodore “”Ted”” Carl Goetz Jr., 80, son of Theodore Carl Goetz Sr. and Marie A. Kuzius, was born Sept. 14, 1925, at Chicago, Ill. He died Nov. 2, 2005, at his home in Houston after a lengthy illness.At age 2 and a half, his mother died. His father took his three boys to an orphanage to be raised by the nuns as he worked to support them. After his father married Anna Kraft, the family made their home on a farm at Lilly Lake, Ill.He entered the service at age 18 and served with the Fourth Armored Division “”Hell on Wheels.”” From 1943 to ’44, he was a part of the Fourth Armored Division that relieved the 101st Airborne. They entered Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge along with Patton to liberate concentration, Nazi and Allied war camps.Upon returning home, he drove a truck for Libby Furniture with his brother, Stanley.He married Lovern H. Stevens Sept. 13, 1947, at Our Lady Help of Christian Catholic Church in Chicago, Ill. They had three sons.He started working for a construction aggregate, training as a crane operator. He joined Operators Union 150 of Chicago, Ill. When the construction aggregate sold out to a material service, he worked an additional five years.He went to work on the Chicago River where he loaded and unloaded barges for Jimmy Edmier Construction.Feb. 1, 1968, he and his family moved to Beulah. He was a crane operator for the Longshoreman Union.After leaving the St. Louis terminals, he was an operator for several construction companies: Peter Kewite and Sons, AFB Construction and Maggi Construction. He also worked at the Fulton Callaway Power Plant in Missouri and the Truman Building in Jefferson City. He frost balled the Yancy Mill Bridge south of Rolla and helped reconstruct the present bridge.While living in Chicago, he was a cub master for Pack 368. He started Pack 104 at Woodridge, Ill. He helped construct Woodridge Fire Department. When moving to Missouri, his rank was lieutenant.He had lived in the Licking area for 37 years, working many jobs. He loved to play pranks and aggravate people.He was preceded in death by his parents, stepmother, two brothers, Stanley and William; four stepbrothers and two stepsisters.Surviving are his wife of the home; his children, Ted Goetz III of Dyersburg, Tenn., Pat Goetz of Yuma, Ariz., and Bill Goetz of Houston; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.Services were Nov. 5 at the Evans Funeral Home Chapel with Father Joe Orthel officiating. The body was cremated following the service. “