Frederick Junior Hirsch

Frederick Junior Hirsch was born September 2, 1927, in the hospital in Simpson, Kansas, to Frederick Leo and Marie Luella Kethcart Hirsch. He attended Columbia and Sunnyside country schools and graduated from Simpson High School in 1944. He attended Brown Mackie College in Salina. He enlisted in the Navy at 17 and served from September of 1945 until his honorable discharge on August 22, 1946. He worked for the ATSF railroad in Topeka and then built grain elevators.
On July 21, 1952, he loaded up Dora Lee and their good friends Charlie and Toad Hughes, and drove until he got up the nerve to stop. At a parsonage in Smith Center, he and Dora Lee began their marriage of 51 years, and he became loving father to her three children. Together they added two more and raised them all on their farm south of Simpson.
They spent the next 40 years farming and raising livestock. He was a member of the Bohemian WFL Lodge 203 and served on the boards of Simpson Grade School, Logan Township, MC RWD 3, Mitchell County Hospital, was a volunteer fireman and founding board member of MCO RFD #1, and Mitchell County Commissioner.
In 1992, he was appointed by the governor to the State Board of Tax Appeals and they spent the next six years in Topeka. They retired to Simpson in 1998, where he then served on city council, as mayor, treasurer of the Simpson Church, and was active in the Simpson Senior Citizens and Council on Aging.
He enjoyed growing a large garden each year, playing cards, and watching whatever sport was in season. He remained at his home in Simpson until health issues precipitated a move to the Nicol Home in 2016. There he again found card games and dominoes to fill his time.
He is survived by his children Marjorie Catherine and husband Arthur Freeman, Abilene; Gary (Butch) Percival and wife Kathy, Salina; Fred D and wife Pat, Glasco; Steve and wife Anita, Oberlin; and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren; sister Opal Filteau, Burns, Oregon; and niece Carole Boyce, Abilene. He was preceded in death by his wife Dora Lee in 2003, daughter Debra Kellison in 2007, granddaughter Sheila Soetaert in 2003, and sisters Colean Norton and Pauline Singsaas.

Memorial service will be at 10AM Monday, August 6 at the Roberts Family Funeral Home in Beloit. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Sunday, August 5, from 5PM-7PM. Memorials may be given to the Nicol Home.