Dennis J. De Deker

Dennis J. De Deker, 84, Stevens Point,
a retired Stevens Point high school
teacher, died
at the Portage County Health Care Center.
A funeral service will be held at
Friday, Nov. 11, at the Boston Funeral Home in Stevens
Point. Burial will be in Guardian Angel Cemetery.
Visitation will be at the funeral homefrom
Thursday, Nov. 10, and again from
Friday until the service.
Memorials may be made to the Stevens Point Area Senior High
School (SPASH) Athletics Department for its athletic program.
Condolences may be offered online at www.bostonfuneralhome.net.
Mr. De Decker was born
Hazel (Desormeau) DeDeker.He grew up in Beloit
and attended schools there. He graduated from Beloit
Memorial High School
in 1950.
He was inducted into the U.S. Army and served in Germany
during the Cold War. He was honorably discharged in 1955.
He attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP)
where he earned a bachelor’s degree in educational conservationin 1958.
He was a conservation and biology teacher and junior varsity
basketball coach at P.J. Jacobs
High School and SPASH until his
retirement in 1988.
He was married to Doris J. Cobb
She died
He coached high school basketball, refereed basketball
games, umpired women’s fast pitch softball games and ran the time clock at UWSP
football games.
He was also one of the founders of the Boston
School Forest
program.
Survivors include five children, Denise (William)
Stoltenberg, Dianna (Steve) Eggert, Dena (Randall) Kawski, Donna (Dean)
Kaetterhenry and Daryl “Bo” (fiancée Dana Wanichek) DeDeker; onesister, Connie
Peters; onesister-in-law, Sarah (Ray) Fiorucci; onebrother-in-law, Fred Whittemore;
11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a special friend, Goldene
Purcell.
He was also preceded in death by onebrother, Kenneth; and two
sisters-in-law, Helen Fiorucci and JoAnne Whittemore.