Rinehold “Rhine” Gottlieb Fecho, 87, of St. Joseph, passed away, Saturday, June 25, 2016 at Hanson Hospice Center in Stevensville.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 914 Lane Dr., St. Joseph, with The Rev. Dennis Remenschneider officiating. Friends may visit with the family one hour prior (10:00 A.M.) to the service at the Church. Memorial donations may be made to Hanson Hospice Center or to The Society of St. Margaret, to support schools and mission work in Haiti. Those wishing to sign Rhine’s Memory Book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.
Rhine was born September 13, 1928 in Benton Harbor to Gottlieb & Ella (Schlegel) Fecho.
On September 11, 1948, he married the former Leona Domke in Eau Claire and was preceded in death by Leona on October 25, 2000. On June 18, 2005, he married the former Alice Barnes Augustus in Harbert, MI and was preceded in death by Alice on February 14, 2015. Rhine was also preceded in death by two brothers-Robert & Ralph Fecho.
Rhine was employed as a design engineer most of his life, including at VM Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation in Michigan, and Long Manufacturing and TRW in North Carolina. Rhine and his wife Leona served as educational missionaries, sponsored by the Presbyterian Church-U.S., in Haiti and Jamaica for 14 years. In Haiti, Rhine worked with the Episcopal Church building and administrating vocational education training schools, and large and small scale agricultural projects throughout the country, as well as serving as administrator of Hospital St. Croix in Leogane. Beginning in the mid-1970s, these schools graduated over 2000 students each year.
Rhine was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and was a former President of the Lakeshore Jaycees. In his free time, Rhine enjoyed woodworking and carving duck decoys.
Rhine is survived by his children-Christine A. (Tom) Dixon of St. Joseph, Scott D. (Susan) Fecho of Tarboro, NC, Jeffry A. (Cecelia) Fecho of Plymouth, MN; step-daughter-Janet (Eric) Anderson of Stevensville: six grandchildren-Sara K. (Brandon) Dawalt, Jeffry S. (Briana) Dixon, Jon R. (Tammy) Fecho, Colin A. Fecho, Kelsey A. Fecho & Matthew A. Fecho; four great-grandchildren-Michael B. Dawalt, Wesley T. Dawalt, Nikolai D. Fecho, & Kody A. Fecho; two sisters-Ruth Billings of Eau Claire, Rita (Gale) Hokenson of Eau Claire; numerous nieces & nephews; and his special friend Betty Jennings.