Gene D. Spichke

Gene Spichke was born

at home on the farm in

the small Ukrainian farm-

ing community of Kief,

ND on April 8, 1935. He

graduated a year early

from Kief Public school to

go to college to pursue an

Ag Econ degree.

In the middle of college

he got the opportunity to

join the Army and joined

in 1956. After the Army

he finished his degree at

NDSU before moving back

to the family farm in Kief

to join his father and

brother in raising cattle

and wheat farming.

After a whirlwind

courtship with childhood

friend Develle (Dee)

Plesuk, they married on

September 6, 1959. They

raised two children and

enjoyed the fresh air and

sunshine of the farming

life. They stayed on the

farm during most of their

retirement until their

move to Minneapolis in

2016.

In addition to being a

member of Liberty Baptist

Church, Gene was on the

board of Land Township

where he resided, United

Community Bank of

Drake, and Camp Bentley.

He was also a member of

Toast Masters of America,

Farmer’s Union, &

Gideons International.

Gene attended Liberty

Baptist Church from birth.

He was active not only as

a member but a deacon,

groundskeeper and some-

times teacher. He would

open the doors and turn

on the heat on cold winter

Saturday nights so it

would be toasty warm on

a Sunday morning. He al-

ways was there for friends

and neighbors in need,

whether they needed

food, help on their farm or

just someone to talk to.

He never was shy about

sharing his faith in Jesus.

After retiring from

farming when he was 71

years old, Gene found that

he couldn’t sit still so he

worked for several years

traveling around the state

as a crop enumerator. One

day while he was at the

North Dakota State Fair

he walked up to a Farm

Rescue booth where he

discovered his true pas-

sion of volunteering to

harvest crops for farm

families in need.

Gene is survived by:

Dee, his wife, of 61 years;

daughter Carrie (Brian)

Doherty of Sumner, WA,

son Todd (Suzette) of Ply-

mouth, MN. Grandson

Spencer (Tabitha) Doherty

of Puyallup, WA; Grand-

daughters Sasha Spichke

of Bloomington, MN;

Alexandra Spichke of

Minnetonka, MN; and

Abigail Spichke of Ply-

mouth, MN.

Gene’s last wishes were

to donate his body to the

University of Minnesota

Anatomy Bequest Pro-

gram. If you wanted to

make any memorial dona-

tions in honor of Gene,

please make them to Li-

berty Baptist Church,

Camp Bentley, Gideon’s

International or Farm Res-

cue.