Joseph Alois Hendrich, 93, of Fort Morgan, Colorado, went home to be with his Lord, Sunday, September 8, 2019 at Seven Lakes Memory Care in Loveland, Colorado.

Joe was born July 17, 1926 in Sylvan Grove, Kansas. He was the fifth of nine children born to Louis and Marie Kejr Hendrich, who were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Growing up in a strong Christian home where the Bible was read and taught in Czech, Joe came to know that his only hope of salvation was through the shed blood of Jesus and accepted Christ as his Savior as a child.

Joe graduated high school in Sylvan Grove in 1943. He then enlisted and served in the U.S. Army during the occupation of Europe post World War II from 1945 until 1947 when he was honorably discharged. Upon discharge, he went to welding school and also obtained his pilot's license under the GI Bill.

Joe met his wife, Joyce Marie Thompson, at Maranatha Bible Camp near North Platte, Nebraska. They were married October 17, 1954, at the Berean Fundamental Church in North Platte. Soon afterward, he and Joyce moved to Moab, Utah, where Joe partnered with his brother Dan to mine uranium. It was in Moab that Bruce was born. A couple of years later, Joe and his young family moved to south of Brush, Colorado, to farm with several of his brothers. It was here that Tom, Joellyn, and Steve were born. In 1963, Joe and his brother Paul started a new farming operation south of Akron, Colorado. Nancy completed the family that year. Joe continued to farm south of Akron well into his eighties before retiring and moving to Fort Morgan. Joe incorporated the farm into Hendrich Farms, Inc. in 1981, which continues today.

Over the years, Joe was very active in the First Baptist Church of Akron, where he served as a deacon for more than 40 years. He also rekindled his love of flying by purchasing a single engine Cessna and enjoyed checking his fields from the air. He especially loved driving a combine in wheat harvest. He always said harvesting wheat on his birthday was his favorite thing to do, and he got to most years.

His beloved wife Joyce died of cancer in 1993. A couple of years later, Joe married Betty Johnson in 1995.

Those preceding him in death were his parents, Louis and Marie, his baby sister, Lydia, his wife, Joyce, three brothers, Sam, Theo, and Dan, two great-grandchildren, and one step-granddaughter, Melinda.

Joe is survived by his wife, Betty, of Fort Morgan, Colorado; his 5 children, Bruce and Lisa Hendrich, Mead, Colorado; Tom and Karen Hendrich, Akron, Colorado; Joellyn Crockett, Cantonment, Florida; Steve and Lynette Hendrich, Nashville, Tennessee; Nancy and Jerry Akers, Loveland, Colorado; 16 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 4 step-children, 4 step-grandchildren, 3 step-great-grandchildren, 1 step-great-great-grandchild, and 4 brothers, Paul, Tim, Clarence, and Harry, of Smith Center, Kansas.

A funeral service was held Thursday, September 12, 2019 at the First Baptist Church of Akron.  Interment followed at the Akron Cemetery.  Memorial donations may be made to www.christianaid.org.