Eldon L. Tietje

Eldon L. Tietje, age 71 of Temple, died Sunday, October 26, 2014 at his residence. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, November 1, 2014 at Grace Presbyterian Church with Rev. Thom Lamb and Rev. Leigh Benish officiating. The family will receive visitors from 5-7:00 pm Friday, October 31, 2014 at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home. Mr. Tietje was born on June 30, 1943 at home near Hamler, Ohio to the late Ernest Tietje and Viola Bern Tietje. Eldon attended schools through the eighth grade in Deshler, Ohio and ninth grade through his sophomore year of college at Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned his bachelor's degree at Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Indiana and a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Pastoral Counseling from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He then earned his Masters of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and Masters of Public Administration from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois. He held multiple certifications in counseling and mental health administration. Eldon married Sally Loving in 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri. He began his career as a mental health administrator in Rockford, IL in 1973, first as a program administrator at Singer Mental Health Center and then as director of an alcohol and substance abuse treatment facility, Al-Care. He moved to Fayetteville, NC in 1984 where he served as executive director of the Cumberland County Mental Health Services. He began work in Temple in 1992 as executive director for Central Counties Center for Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services, which provides services to a five county area, and worked there until his death. His contemporaries in the mental health and developmental disabilities field describe him as committed, dedicated, passionate, and one who could be counted on to ask the difficult and probing questions in pursuit of ensuring the delivery of services to the consumers with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or veterans returning from war with invisible wounds. Eldon was a tireless and longtime Rotarian, twice being named a Paul Harris Fellow. He served multiple terms as president of the Temple Sunrise Rotary Club including two years during the club's chartering process. He was a member of Grace Presbyterian Church where he served as an elder and as a deacon. He loved to grow his own vegetables and was an enthusiastic and creative cook. Although he rarely found the time for it, he also loved fishing. Eldon is survived by his wife of 42 years, Sally Tietje of Temple, Texas; a daughter, Gretchen Tietje of Washington, DC; two sisters, Wanda Mlinarik of Bowling Green, Ohio and Linda Logsdon of Marion, Ohio; one brother, Ernest C. Tietje of McClure, Ohio; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in Mr. Tietje's name to Grace Presbyterian Church, 2401 S. 57th Street, Temple, Texas 76504, to the American Cancer Society (cancer.org) or to a charity of the donor's choice.