Elvis Bix
Elvis Bix
Elvis Bix
1934-2017
Elvis Bix, age 82, of Belton, Missouri, formerly of Hopkins, Missouri entered into peace Saturday, April 8, 2017 at Belton, Missouri. Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, April, 11, 2017 at Ritchie Funeral Home, Clarinda, Iowa with Pastor Laura Rand officiating. Visitation with the family will be held 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 11, 2017 prior to the service. Burial will be in Memory Cemetery, New Market, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to the Elvis Bix Memorial. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on our website at, www.ritchiefuneralhome.com under Obituaries. Arrangements were entrusted to the Ritchie Funeral Home of Clarinda, Iowa.
Elvis Hugh Bix came into this world on September 25, 1934 at his parent’s home in Page County Iowa. He was the oldest son of Theodore Bix and Maye Parks Bix. He graduated from New Market high school with the class of 1953, where he was known by his nickname “Duke.” He would carry this nickname the rest of his life.
On July 19, 1953, he married his high school sweetheart Wylene Diggs in Clinton, Missouri. They made their first home together in Osceola, Missouri where Elvis worked as a mechanic at Reece’s Ford. In 1954, they moved to New Market, Iowa where he worked putting up grain bins. In 1955, they moved to Bedford, Iowa where he returned to the work he loved as a mechanic at the Ford Garage. In 1956, they moved to Hopkins, Missouri where he worked as a mechanic for 10 years at Rosecrans Chevrolet. In 1966, he went to work at Ingels Ford in Maryville, Missouri. In 1971, he followed his dream and purchased his own mechanics shop in Hopkins, Missouri where he provided general repair work for the community until his retirement in 1996.
Elvis and Wylene were blessed with four children Teresa, Terrell, Tracy, and Tina.
Elvis had many hobbies and passions. With a friend from Ingels Ford they restored Elvis’s grandpa’s 1931 Model A Ford. He took it to several car shows winning a lot of trophies. Elvis and Wylene enjoyed riding their Honda Gold Wing motorcycle logging many miles on trips with their son Terrell and his wife. Elvis played the pedal steel guitar in the Bix Brother’s family country western dance band for 25 years. After retirement, he did beautiful woodworking. He made several items for his grandchildren and other family members. Elvis enjoyed attending antique tractor shows. He especially liked antique John Deeres and owned a few. After purchasing his father’s rare Allis “G” tractor he started showing it also.
Left to cherish Elvis’s memory is his loving wife of 63 years, Wylene of Hopkins, Missouri, daughters Teresa Howard (Doug) of Atlantic, Iowa; Tina Dittmer (Harold) of Williamsburg, Iowa; sons Terrell Bix (Sharon) of Belton, Missouri; Tracy Bix (Sarah) of Maryville Missouri; brother Richard Bix; 14 grandchildren 20 great grandchildren.
Preceding Elvis in death are his parents Theodore (Ted) and Maye Bix; father-in-law and mother-in-law Hildred and Phyllis Diggs; brother Larry Bix; grandson Chad Bix and granddaughter Danielle Beckett.
The memory of a well spent life never dies,
We cannot keep you forever,
But the memories we can hold close to our hearts.
The legacy of your love will remain in our hearts.
May you be at peace in God’s loving care.
