Roy “Bob” Stricker went home to be with His Lord on July 29, 2024, at Azria Health Woodhaven in Great Bend, Kan. Bob was born in Russell County at the family farm south of Russell on March 30, 1932, to Gottfried and Amalia “Mollie” (Niedenthal) Stricker. He was the eighth of 14 children. 

Bob attended Russell High School and graduated in 1950. He then attended Brown-Mackie School in Salina, Kan. He returned home to help his dad farm in Winona, in Western Kansas, until he was drafted in June 1955, during the Korean War. Bob proudly served in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Korea from November 1955, to April 1957. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve until his discharge in 1963.

Bob married Marilyn Rugan on Nov. 23, 1963, in Ellinwood. Bob worked for the United States Postal Service in Great Bend from 1958, until 1988. His favorite hobbies were baseball, bowling, fishing, hunting, and cheering for his Pittsburgh Steelers every Sunday during football season. He never missed a hunting season out on the family farm/homestead with his family and friends. Bob’s greatest love was fishing, and he treasured all the time he spent out on the lake. Every year, he’d celebrate his success by hosting a huge fish fry every fall for family and friends. Bob loved his Lord and was a member of St. Mark Lutheran Church where he sang in the church choir from 1981, until June 2019. Bob was also a member of the VFW Post #3111 in Great Bend. 

Bob is survived by his two children, Scott (Susie) Stricker of Superior, Colo. and Amy (Victor) Fuentes of La Salle, Colo.; granddaughters, Briana (Mace) Gallup and their children Mace, Addisyn and Marrek; Laura Stricker and Erin Stricker; grandsons: Grant Skarohlid, Brian (Josefina) Skarohlid and their children A’Jay and Juniper, Wes Skarohlid and his daughter, April; two brothers, Elmer Stricker of Cedar Hill, Texas, Tom (Judy) Stricker of Hill City, Kan.; and three sisters, Elsena Bender of Great Bend, Kan., Mary Jane Doonan of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kathryn Booth of Tulsa, Okla. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Harvey Stricker, Gottfried “Fritz” Stricker Jr., Glen Stricker, Dean Stricker and an infant brother, Henry Hubert Stricker; sisters, Rozella Van Reenan, Helena “Helen” Michaelis and Lenetta Springer. 

Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Bryant Funeral Home with family receiving from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Funeral service will be 2 p.m., Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Great Bend, Kan. with Reverend Adam Wutka presiding. Interment will follow at 4:30 p.m., at Bender Hill Cemetery in Russell County, with military rites provided by Fort Riley Honor Guard. Memorials have been designated to Meals on Wheels, in care of Bryant Funeral Home, 1425 Patton Rd., Great Bend, KS 67530. Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.bryantfh.net.

Funeral arrangements provided by

Bryant Funeral Home

1425 Patton Rd.

Great Bend, KS 67530

Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Aug. 1, 2024