Marion Dettmer

Marion Dettmer, 82, of Aurora, passed away on Friday, October 30, 2020 at Westfield Quality Care.
A Funeral Service will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, November 3 at the Higby-McQuiston Chapel.  Rev. Greg Reed will officiate. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.  Current CDC guidelines will be followed, masks are required.  Memorials may be made in care of St. Croix Hospice or Lester S. Harter Post #42 - Aurora American Legion. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Interment will be at the Green Fancy Creek Cemetery in Green, Kansas at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4.  These services will be provided by Anderes-Pfeifley Funeral Home of Riley, Kansas.
Marion Eldon Dettmer, the son of Vernon and Georgene (Adams) Dettmer, was born in Clay Center, Kansas on June 7, 1938 and passed away in Aurora, on October 30, 2020, at the age of 82.
Marion grew up in Green, Kansas. He attended Star School and then one year of high school.  Marion worked as a farm hand for several years before being drafted into the U.S. Army on August 24, 1961 to serve in the Vietnam War, then Korea and later in Germany.  Marion was honorably discharged on April 26, 1974.
Marion was very proud to be a veteran.  He was decorated with many honors.  Marion received 2 Purple Hearts and 7 Oak Leaf Clusters.  He flew 26 missions while in Vietnam and was shot down 3 times.  Marion was very proud, but never talked about all the honors he had received.
After his time in the Army, Marion worked in Miltonvale, Kansas, Hesston, Kansas and Omaha, before spending the last 30 years in Aurora as an over the road truck driver.  He retired due to health reasons.
In Marion’s spare time he enjoyed collecting things including toys, tools and he also enjoyed auctions where he could pick up Farmall Tractors that he could tinker with.  He especially enjoyed tearing them apart and then calling Larry on the phone and they could talk for hours on how to put it back together and what he should replace or rebuild.  Larry and Marion had a very tight bond as brothers as they enjoyed so many of the same things.  He also enjoyed time he spent at the local hangout with his buddies and Larry has gotten to know all of them and has built a friendship with all of them.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Edward Dettmer.
Those left to cherish his memory are his two brothers, Leland (Trudy) Dettmer of Las Vegas, NV and Larry (Sandy) Dettmer of Leonardville, KS; sister, Marlene Chartier of Clay Center, KS; four nephews, Dave Dettmer, Daren Dettmer, Doug Chartier and Rex Dettmer and four nieces, Deb Beaver, Denette Westerman, Melanie Dettmer and Nancy Dettmer and many other family members and friends.
The family wishes to thank Westfield’s staff for the kindness and care they showed their brother.  Even the maintenance man sat with Marion for several of Marion’s last hours.