Edward Stepanich

EDWARD J. STEPANICH Ed Stepanich of rural Neodesha, KS, passed away on January 30, 2010, at the Wilson Medical CenterReece Campus. He was 88. His niece, Mary Bauman, was at his bedside at the time of his death. A rosary will be said at 7 PM Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at St. Ignatius Catholic Church. A funeral mass will be held at 10 AM Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, at St. Ignatius Catholic Church under the direction of PenwellGabel Loran Fawcett Chapel. Father Stephen Thapwa will officiate. Interment will be in Neodesha Catholic Cemetery. The son of Joe and Agnes Sustar Stepanich, he was born on February 6, 1921 in Neodesha, KS. He graduated from Neodesha High School in 1939 and later served with the U. S. Marines during World War II in the Pacific war zone. He attended Utah State College for three years. He was a lifelong farmer and lived on the family farm southeast of Neodesha. He also worked at the Standard Oil Refinery for several years as a chemist. He never married. Ed was a member of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Neodesha and was an at large member of the VFW. He is survived by three brothers, Fr. Martin Stepanich of Bolingbrook, Illinois, John Stepanich of Overland Park, Kansas, and Fred Stepanich of Manila, Philippines. He was preceded in death by his parents, three sisters, Anne Winchell, Sr. Susanne, and Mary Cancler and two brothers, Joe and Henry.