Joseph "Joe" Wayne Scheich

Joseph Wayne "Joe" Scheich was born on July 31, 1947 in Mitchell, SD to Gertrude and Leo Scheich. He attended country school as a child and graduated from Ethan High School in 1965. He worked on the family farm for a few months following graduation, and then got his first paying job splitting and nailing corn on the World's only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. In his later years, he proudly liked to tell his friends, nieces, and nephews about this first job.

In 1966, Joe joined the US Air Force. He completed his basic training at Shepard AFB in Texas, followed by tech schools in Texas and California. He finished three months training at Ft. Walton Beach, FL before being deployed for one year to Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Joe was a mechanic for the Bird Dog reconnaissance planes and learned many skills that he used throughout his life. Joe was fortunate enough to get R&R leave in Australia, a trip he thoroughly enjoyed; especially when he met Olivia Newton John! After returning to the states, Joe spent the remainder of his service time in Ft. Walton Beach, FL and was discharged at the rank of Sargent in December of 1970. Despite the dissent for this war in America, Joe was very proud to be numbered among the Vietnam Veterans who served this country.

When he returned to SD, Joe moved to Rapid City with his brother Ron and a friend, Denny Paulsen, and worked for a company that built mobile homes. In August of 1972, both Joe and Ron moved to Denver to join their brothers, Con and Jack, in the big city life. Joe immediately got a job at Coors in Golden, CO where he worked faithfully for 33 years before retiring at the age of 58.

Joe became a true Coloradan and learned to ski shortly after he moved there. He spent many hours on the ski slopes with the Coors Ski Club until a back injury ended his skiing career.

After he retired, Joe got involved in a woodworking hobby and spent hours scroll-sawing, making beautiful pictures for family and friends. His Last Supper pictures are still hanging in all of his siblings' homes. He also joined the VFW in Golden and spent many Tuesday evenings playing Bingo and making new friends there. His other hobby in retirement was his John Deere tractor. In addition to mowing his large lawn, he thoroughly enjoyed putting the snow plow on it in the winter and plowing all his friends and neighbors out when there was a big snow. It was not unusal for him to plow at least 40 people out during these snows.

Joe was a big sports fan. He followed the Denver Broncos from day one and enjoyed going to games in the '70s and '80s. He also became a big Denver Nuggets and a Colorado Avalanche fan. He loved talking with his brother Con about those games, especially this past season. He would have been very disappointed at the outcome of both the Avs and Nuggets playoff games this year!!

Joe's love of vehicles was evident in the sports cars he bought. His 1966 Red Corvette brought him many years of enjoyment and pride. He belonged to a corvette club and enjoyed showing his car at classic shows. In 2017, Joe added to his car collection; the 50 Year Anniversary Edition of the Chevrolet Camaro. That was his pride and joy.

For the past almost 15 years, Joe was kept busy being a dog dad to his two Shih Tzu pups, Ely and Ellie. They were great company for him and kept him active when he walked them daily. As the dogs got older, Joe had to regretfully let them go; first, Ellie in 2019 and then Ely in 2020. They were truly his family.

Joe became ill at the end of 2020 and passed away on January 27, 2021 after a few days in the hospital. He was preceded in death by his Mom and Dad; a baby sister; his brother, Jack; his two sisters and their husbands, Shirley and Les Jorgensen and Mary and George Welsh; and his precious pups, Ely and Ellie. Joe is survived by his brother Con and his wife, Kathy; brother, Ron and wife, Cherie; brother, Len and wife, Patty; sister-in-law, Kate; and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews, as well as his many friends and neighbors.