Lloyd Earl Eickert, 88, of Missoula and Stevensville, passed away on Monday, July 14, 
2014 at the Village Nursing Home after a brief battle with cancer.
He was born on November 15, 1925 in Chadwick, Illinois to Julius and Hazel Eickert. He was raised and educated in Chadwick with his nine brothers and sisters until he joined the Air Force. He earned the rank of Sergeant, where he was a tail gunner in the 39Oth, 8th Air Force Bomb Group in WWII.
After the war he attended Illinois State University and became an Illinois state agriculture inspector. During this time he met his future wife, Helen Landis. They married on April 12, 1953 and were married for 43 years until Helen’s death in 1996. They farmed and helped run the family business in the Byron, Oregon area until 1975 when they moved to the Bitterroot Valley, near Stevensville, Montana. He started a new career in real estate and owned and operated Eickert Realty until his retirement in 2006. In August 2003, he married Diane Sullivan of Missoula.
Lloyd was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church. He was very active in both communities where he served on the school board, church board and was a member of the VFW and American Legion, He sponsored the Bitterroot Bucs for many years and was a co-founder of the Stevensville Pantry Partners Food Bank.
He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend.
Survivors include his wife Diane Sullivan Eickert; two daughters, Mary (Jon) Cockerham and Patricia (Clint) Leu; a son, John (Elizabeth) Eickert; sisters Iva and Gloria and brothers Elmer, Lyle (Marie) and DeWayne (Diane); brother-in-law Grant (Janet) Landis; grandchildren Marie Cockerham, Jamie (Darrin) Blume and Ross Leu; Diane’s children, Steve, Tom and Kelly and their families; great-grandson Connor Lloyd Blume; and Ricky Eickert and Susan (Andy) Bramlett and her family whom he considered and loved as his own grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A family service is being planned. Memorials can be sent to the Pantry Partners Food Bank, PO Box 806, Stevensville MT 59870 in Lloyd’s name. Please note either general or endowment fund.