Tommy Van Sickle
Former Emporia resident Tommy Van Sickle of Boone, Iowa, died Monday, Sept. 4, 2006, at Veteran’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. He was 75.
The son of Charlie and Lillian Randall Van Sickle, he was born Sept. 24, 1930, in rural Lyon County. He attended Emporia public schools.
He married Doris Hofer in June 1957. She survives.
Mr. Van Sickle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1950 and served four years. For three of those years he was stationed in Guam during the Korean War. When he returned to Emporia and worked in heavy construction. He moved to Iowa in 1955 and worked in construction. In 1965, he started Van Sickle Construction. He retired 10 years ago.
He is also survived by two daughters, Thea Young of Kingwood, Texas, and Joy Gee of Rochester, Minn.; two sons, Mike Van Sickle and Matthew Van Sickle, both of Boone, Iowa; two foster daughters, Karen Stansbury of Loveland, Colo., and Cindy Phillips of Broken Arrow, Okla.; one sister, Deloris Hensley of Americus. In Emporia, he is survived by an aunt, Hazel Gilbert.
A brother, Clifford L. Van Sickle; and a sister, Betty L. Smith, died earlier.
The funeral was held Sept. 7 in the Open Bible Church at Boone, Iowa. Burial was at Quincy Cemetery in Boone, Iowa.