Wendell K. Buche
November 12, 1924 - May 10, 2013

Wendell Keith Buche was born November 12, 1924 at Plainview, Nebraska to Roy Everett and Dollie Lucretia Clapp Buche. He attended rural schools for his elementary education and graduated from Plainview High School at Plainview, Nebraska in 1943. He was raised on the farm and loved every part of the rural life of that time. He especially liked working with cattle and hogs from their birth to their marketing.

Wendell entered the Army on June 28, 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and received his basic infantry training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas.

On December 19, 1944 he was sent overseas, leaving from San Francisco on a troop ship, the U.S.S. Sea Ray. He was on the high seas from December 19 until the following February 5, 1945. During this time the troop ship sailed past the several islands of the South Pacific, crossing the International Date Line and the Equator before disembarking on the Island of Leyte, in the Philippine Islands. Here he joined in the mopping up operations with the 7th Infantry Division.

This division was then one of the initial assault teams in the invasion of Okinawa on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. He served as ammunitions bearer for a machine gun squad. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Marksman Rifle Badge, the Purple Heart, along with the Meritorious Unit Award Victory medal. He participated in the Western Pacific, Southern Philippines (liberation) and Okinawa battles.

After his front line service, he was given a medical transfer from front line duty to a non-combat area. He was evacuated from the area on the U.S.S. Hope, a hospital ship, to the island of Guam. Here he was hospitalized and later assigned to the 2233rd Engineers Construction Company located on the island of Saipan in the Western Pacific and later promoted to Master Sergeant. He was discharged from the army on April 28, 1946.

On October 14, 1946 he was united in marriage to Mildred M. Hansen at Pierce, Nebraska. They made their home in Lincoln where Wendell was employed with the Veterans Administration and attended Lincoln School of Commerce. Daughter Linda Marie was born in Lincoln. In October of 1949 Wendell began working for the Internal Revenue Service in Omaha. The family eventually moved to Omaha. Mildred passed away on November 28, 1956.

Wendell married Dorothy L. Eaton at Omaha, Nebraska on January 23, 1959. To this union a daughter Kathy Le was born. In 1972 Wendell was transferred to the Norfolk branch of the Internal Revenue Service and served as a Revenue Officer until his retirement. The family moved to Fremont in 1984 to be closer to family. They are members of the First United Methodist Church in Fremont.

Wendell and Dorothy loved to travel having visited the island of Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, other European countries and also on an Alaskan cruise. They were members of the Starlighters Square Dance Club and enjoyed square dancing until his health problems began to appear.

On September 11, 2010 he traveled with the Honor Flight for WWII veterans to see the WWII Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. He considered this to be one of many highlights of his lifetime. Daughter Kathy accompanied him on this trip.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mildred; his brother, Wayne; as well as his parents. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, and daughters and son-in-law's, Linda and David Eaton, Chula Vista, CA and Kathy and Bruce Fiscus of Bloomfield, NE; granddaughters Stacy Ban (Hubert) of San Francisco, CA and Amy Poggendorf (and fiancé Al Bakhit) of Omaha; and grandson Ed Eaton (Heather) of San Antonio, TX; twin great-grandsons Johnathon and Justin Eaton of Sacramento; and sister-in-law Gertrude Eaton of Chula Vista, CA together with a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

The funeral service will be 10:30am Tuesday May 14, 2013 at the First United Methodist Church in Fremont. Committal with Military Honors will be at Prospect View Cemetery at Pierce, Nebraska at 3pm. Memorials are suggested to the First United Methodist Church and Gentiva Hospice. Visitation will be Monday from 4pm to 8pm with the family receiving friends from 6pm to 8pm at the Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont.

Online guestbook at www.Ludvigsenmortuary.com