Richard "Rick" Lee Dykstra

Richard “Rick” Lee Dykstra, age 72, of Thomson, passed away Saturday, February 17, 2024, at
home with his loving family by his side. Rick was a devoted Husband, Father, Grandfather,
Brother and Friend. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 11am Saturday, March 2, 2024,
at Law Jones, Thomson. Burial will be in Lower York Cemetery. Visitation will be held 4 – 8pm
Friday, March 1, 2024, at Law Jones, Thomson. Memorials may be made in Rick’s honor for the
Thomson Volunteer Fire & Ambulance Department, Thomson Police Department and the
Clarrisa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf.

Rick was born February 6, 1952 in Morrison, IL the son of Clifford and Evelyn (Bielema)
Dykstra. He grew up on a farm near Morrison, and when he was in sixth grade his family moved
to Thomson. He was a 1970 graduate of Thomson High School, where he was in FFA and on
the basketball team. On November 25, 1983, Rick married Linda (Wilkens) Eshelman in Clinton,
Iowa. They celebrated 40 years of marriage and have been blessed to have a blended family of
four children, Jamie, Wesley, Chad and Amanda.

Family is what Rick thrived on. Whether it was riding ATV trails with the ‘’Geriatric Juveniles”
group or having a bonfire with all the cousins on the bluff. Rick was happiest when he and Linda
were spending time with family. His passion was hunting and trapping. He loved watching his
grandchildren play sports and enjoyed teaching them to hunt. He enjoyed building bird houses
and other woodworking projects. He took pride in his yard, always creating new hosta and
flower gardens and would often hear, “It looks like a park!” Rick loved to travel to many places
with Linda to see family and different parts of the country, especially the National Parks. This
past August he made his bucket list trip to Canada for a bear hunt.

Work ethic was something that Rick learned about as he grew up on the farm. He carried that
with him in his 32 years with the Illinois Department of Transportation, where he was a heavy
equipment operator. After retiring from the DOT, he worked 12 years for Mt. Carroll Township.
He previously served 10 years as a part-time Police Officer for Thomson, and 18 years on the
Thomson Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Service. The last few years he helped a local farmer
with crops and livestock as well as maintaining their fences. You could count on Rick that he
was always willing to lend a helping hand. He always said his favorite part of work or
volunteering for his community, was the people he met.

Rick will be dearly missed by his wife, Linda; four children, Jamie Dykstra of Savanna, IL,
Wesley Dykstra of Phoenix, Arizona, Chad Eshelman of Vandalia, Ohio and Amanda Fix of
Waterloo, Iowa; seven grandchildren, Emilee, Brenna, Avery, Ashby, Holden, Kaelyn and
Peyton; two siblings, Sandra Challeen of Green Bay, Wisconsin and James (Linda) Dykstra of
Morrison, IL; brother-in-law Ronald Hans; and mother-in-law, Evelyn Wilkens of Morrison, IL.
Rick is preceded in death by both parents; grandparents; sister, Judith Hans; daughter-in-law,
Kandis Eshelman; brother-in-law, Jon Challeen, and father-in-law, Wilbert Wilkens.