Services for Darrell Lee Eck
Wed, 10/12/2022 - 1:46pm
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Darrell Lee Eck, or perhaps as many of you knew him, Doogie, went to Heaven on October 7th, 2022. We knew him as Dad, the King, and Grandpa. Boy…did he make our lives special. It’s hard to put 73 years into a few paragraphs but here are the moments and memories we hold onto.
He was born on November 3rd, 1948 in Bagley, MN to Roger and Petra Eck. They had a large family and his brothers and sisters meant everything to our Dad. We had the privilege to hear the most wonderful stories of their time spent together. He grew up in Gonvick, MN and after high school was drafted into the Vietnam War. He proudly served our nation alongside his brothers Kenny & Rodney. The brothers were honored to follow their father’s footsteps of military service. He was our hero. He went on to live in Grafton, ND and had 4 children. We heard him say many times “babies are a gift from God” and as his kiddos, we felt that. And when it came time for us to have our littles, they never had to see a daycare as Grandpa raised them from the beginning. He taught them to say “SO BIG!”, “wawa”(water), and a curse word or two! He treated them to coffee dippers while showing them never ending love. As they grew older, they all had their special relationship with Gpa. From going to rummage sales and buying all the knick knacks to talking about the next Vikings game, he found a way to connect with every single one of them.
A lover of storytelling and coffee, nothing beat going to his house on a Saturday morning. And we can all attest buttered toast just tasted better at his home. He almost always had music playing and would get excited to call about a song he remembered. Technology was not his forte, so he had stacks of CDs at his home…and still held on strong to his flip phone. If you didn’t hear music, you heard his TVs blaring CNN, football, or Nascar. Money meant nothing to him, giving away $20 here and there saying “Money is worthless, you can’t take it with you when you go!”. He was an incredible cook but those recipes will be hard to duplicate as he always said “I just threw stuff together”…or something like that! But we will try our best to make his famous Thanksgiving turkey and ring casserole.
We know he had the most amazing welcome committee in Heaven, joining his Mom & Dad, sister Lori and brothers, Teddy & Rodney. Oh, and many grandpuppies. Those who will continue to miss him Earthside include his brother Kenny (Nancy), sister Connie (Jim); his 4 children – Dustin (Charlyne), Hailey (Eric), Daisey (Matt), & Star (Jeff), all of Fargo; grandchildren - Skyler, Kassandra, Gage, Harmony, Willow, Raimey, & Khloe, and great granddaughter Amelia. We will honor him through acts of kindness, slight hoarding, and the telling of his many stories. He was not a fan of the Minnesota goodbye so in the words of our Dad, “Gotta go, the race is on”. Di di mau Gpa, we love you.
A celebration of life will be held at Samhold Lutheran Church in Gonvick, MN on October 29th, 2022 at 11:00am. The family invites everyone to lunch immediately following at the Gonvick American Legion.