- Date Of Birth: February 6, 1920
- Date Of Death: September 11, 2020
- State: Texas
Lloyd Kenneth Bickel, 100, was called home on Friday, September 11, 2020 in Boerne, Texas. A private ceremony was held at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, TX.
Lloyd was born in Union City, Indiana on February 6, 1920, to Ira and Lillie Mae Bickel. He married Betty Jean Dumford on September 11, 1941. She was the love of his life and they were married for 67 years at the time of her passing in 2009.
Lloyd entered military service right out of high school and served in the Air Force for 21 years, spending the last 5 years of his service at the Pentagon. He worked as a mechanic and achieved the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. After leaving the military, he went to school to earn his teaching certificate in 1976 and taught Wood Shop for several years. He held many different jobs over the years including working for Bergmann Lumber Company, the Perdue Soybean Plant and various construction work.
In 1984, he and wife Betty bought a motorhome and began traveling the country. For the next 10 years, they, along with a group of their friends, helped to build churches all over Texas and other areas as part of a Baptist Men’s Group. They could build a small church in two weeks from start to finish and all they asked in return was a place to park their motorhomes and one meal a day. They also spent time working at Church camps in Ruidoso, NM and Leakey, TX.
In 1994, Lloyd and Betty returned to Boerne where he joined a group at the First Baptist Church, called the Helping Hands. They built bookshelves for the Geneva school library, handicap railings for people’s homes, and pews for churches in Mexico. Lloyd also started a new hobby of wood carving, making mountain men and beautiful Kachina dolls. He was an avid gardener and loved taking long drives with his family and looking at the countryside. In his younger days, he built his own home from the ground up on the Eastern shore of Maryland, even designing his own blueprints.
Lloyd spent the last few years living in Heritage Place, an assisted living center on the south side of Boerne. Never one to sit still for long, he enjoyed regular exercise classes and other activities. Many of the staff there have shared how much they enjoyed his stories. He was a man of many talents who lived his long life with much joy and love in his heart. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.
Lloyd was preceded in death by both of his parents and his beloved wife, Betty. He is survived by his daughters, Janice Bergmann of Boerne and Sandra McMullen (John) of Delmar, MD; his grandchildren, Darien Bergmann of Denver, CO and Karen Purcell of Boerne; and his great-granddaughter, Amanda Purcell of Boerne.
Lloyd’s family would like to thank the staff at Heritage Place of Boerne and Alamo Hospice Care.
