Annabelle (“Anne") Echtenkamp, 90, of West Point, NE went to her heavenly home on Sunday, August 14, 2016 at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point, NE.
Anne was born September 12, 1925 in Parker, South Dakota to David and Dorothy (Levis) Warren. She was baptized into the United Methodist Church. After the death of her father when she was just 4 years old, Anne’s mother, sister, and she moved to the Wayne, NE area.
Anne graduated from Wayne Prep, where she also met and began dating Kenneth Echtenkamp. She and her best friend, Ruth Jean Phipps, moved to Omaha to attend Western Union School and work for Western Union during World War II, reading and clipping news feeds from around the world.
After Ken returned from his service in the European Theatre during the War, Anne returned to Wayne where she took adult instruction and was confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church in Wayne.
Anne married her high school sweetheart, Ken Echtenkamp, on June 3, 1947 by Pastor Walter Brackensick at Grace Lutheran Church in Wayne. She worked in the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office until the birth of their first child, Ken Jr. (“Butch”), in 1949.
The family moved to Bancroft, NE in 1952, where their other children were born: Douglas in 1952 and Pamela in 1962. The family moved to Norfolk from 1970-1974 before settling in West Point from 1974 to the present.
No matter where the family lived, Anne was actively involved in her church. In West Point, she taught Sunday School; she assisted with memorials at funerals; she wrote letters for the church that were sent to the church’s veterans who were in active service; she volunteered four months every year to come in on Monday mornings to count church offerings; she regularly provided food donations for Sunday School and the county fair stand; and for 18 years, she delivered church bulletins and Portals of Prayers booklets to church members in the nursing home, assisted living, and shut-ins.
Anne is survived by her husband of 69 years, Ken of West Point; their children, Butch of West Point, Doug and his wife Carol of Lincoln, and Pam Saalfeld of Norfolk; three grandchildren, Jill (Josh) Baker of Omaha, Jennifer (Ty) Cole of Omaha, and Hillary Saalfeld of Omaha; and two great grandchildren, Alex and Ellie Cole.
She is preceded in death by her mother, Dorothy Sylvanus; her sister, Betty Jane (George) Bowman; father, David Warren; and stepfather, Lloyd Sylvanus.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in West Point, with Pastor Richard Bringewatt officiating. Interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in Wayne, NE at approximately 1:30 p.m. Visitation will be on Wednesday from noon to 8:00 p.m., with the family present from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the Minnick Funeral Home in West Point, NE and will continue on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the service at the church. The family suggests that memorials be directed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in West Point, NE.

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