Dennis Otte

December 30, 1945 - May 15, 2020

Wayne, Nebraska

Services for Dennis Otte, age 74, of Wayne are currently pending with Hasemann Funeral Home of Wayne.
He is a Combat Veteran having served in the United States Army in Vietnam from 1966-1967.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Kerry; sons, Scott Otte of Lincoln and Brett Otte of Lincoln; sister, Carol Griesch of Wayne;
brothers, Gerald (Marilyn) Otte of Wayne and Merlin (Marietta) Otte of West Point; Dennis was preceded in death
by his parents; brother, Kenneth; and great-nephew. He passed away Friday at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk.

Another Veteran has gone to report to the Commander of US all.

Rest In Peace, Dennis E. Otte, an American Soldier...

In lieu of visitation for Dennis E Otte, there will be a

Memorial Drive by at the Wayne County Veteran’s Memorial at the Courthouse, 510 N Pearl
Street in Wayne,

Sunday May 31, 2020, from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Family will be present. Flags are welcome.

Route is south on Pearl Street past the Veterans Memorial then down to 1st Street then
east to Main.

Committal Rites will be held at the Omaha National Cemetery, Omaha, Nebraska

Arrangements with Hasemann Funeral Home of Wayne

Dennis E. Otte, was born December 30, 1945, at Wayne to Raymond and Marjorie (French)
Otte. He attended country school at District #64 and graduated from Wayne High School in
1963. He served as a Combat Veteran in the United States Army in Vietnam from 1966-1967.
Dennis married Kerry Voss on April 17, 1971, at Wayne. They lived in Wayne and later moved
north of Wayne to enjoy the country life. Together they traveled across the US & Hawaii
seeing fellow comrades who were in the military together. They also attended military
reunions where he found comfort meeting warm, wonderful compatriots. Dennis worked for
Lester Pole Buildings, Bob Merchant Oil Company, Otte Construction, Casey Music Company,
and Ludwig Thos, & Elgin Toelle. He was a self-employed Butler Building and grain bin
dealer, heavy equipment operator & a reel & bed knife sharpening business. They owned and
operated KD Inn from 1980-1993. Dennis was a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, life-
long VFW member where he served as past commander and American Legion. He enjoyed hunting
and fishing. Dennis was chairperson of the Wayne County Veterans Memorial from 2009-2019.
One of his greatest accomplishments was building this tribute to our fellow Wayne County
Veterans.

Dennis was recognized by the state of Nebraska with Legislative Resolution 150 on May 30,
2019 for making thousands of handmade poppies for National Poppy Day.

Dennis is survived by his wife, Kerry; sons, Scott Otte and Brett Otte both of Lincoln;
sister, Carol Griesch of Wayne; brothers, Gerald (Marilyn) Otte of Wayne and Merlin
(Marietta) Otte of West Point.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Kenneth; brother-in-law, Mark
Griesch; & great-nephew.

He passed away Friday at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk.

Memorials
Wayne County Veterans Memorial
Care of Tom Hansen, 305 Main St.
Wayne, NE 68787

From Hasemann Funeral Home website

GOODBYE MR. POPPY MAN

There are few times in one’s life you run across another person who you immediately know
that he or she is genuine in their words, actions and deeds. One such person in our lives
has been Dennis Otte of Wayne NE, as well as his lovely wife, Kerry. This friendship
started late in each of our lives and one can only imagine what it would have been like to
have known Dennis longer.

Dennis showed his generosity and genuine appreciation to those we know as Veterans. In
the time that we have known Dennis he has put on thousands of miles, made hundreds of
calls just to keep in touch and visit with those men who served with him in Vietnam. He
has attended many of their funerals and shared with their families stories they may never
had heard. Even to his dying days Veterans were a main stay of his daily life.

Dennis volunteered to make The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Memorial
Poppy a few years back and would be able to make 5,000 to 7,000 memorial poppies in record
time. And they were some of the most beautiful poppies around. The Memorial Poppies –
handmade by Veterans – were distributed throughout District 3 of The American Legion
family. This past March 7, 2020 it was my sad duty to inform our 26 Auxiliary Units that
they have received the final “handmade by Veteran” Dennis Otte Memorial Poppy as he would
not be able to continue his dedicated service to Veterans. Dennis could have received 5-
cents for each of the thousands of Memorial Poppies he made, but he did not. In his days
of better health he would ask do you have the poppy supplies for me to make the Memorial Poppy.

Not only was Dennis a great poppymaker, he was a great promoter of the Poppy Program. He
would volunteer once again to come out to Pamida/Shopko each Saturday before Memorial Day
to help The American Legion Family distribute the Memorial Poppy to anyone who would wear
that special red crepe paper poppy over the weekend to honor all Veterans. We never asked
for any donations, but it was a choice for anyone to drop coins or bills into our
collection container. But before Dennis “arrived on duty” those Saturday mornings he had
already been out to Wayne East, Quality Foods, Fredrickson’s and more distributing the
Memorial Poppy and bringing in the donations to make our container look better. Where do
you find anyone who is willing to do such deeds without any expectation of reward? Dennis
and Kerry Otte are two such persons/friends. He earned the title of “Mr. Big Bucks” from
us as when he first came to our Poppy table he dropped in a generous donation and took two
small poppies. Thus his name. And his favorite line to those wishing to donate “We don’t
have change just drop it in.” One of the saddest moments of our Poppy table were those
who made an intentional detour around our table or said no to wearing a Memorial Poppy to
honor those who have given us our Freedom – Veterans.

Now Dennis not only had a huge impact upon the Memorial Poppy, but his leadership with the
Wayne County Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the Wayne County Courthouse cannot be
discounted as anything other than great. With Dennis’ leadership and insistence of “doing
it right” we have a beautiful tribute to all Veterans. He and other committee members of
the memorial are duly recognized for a “Job well done” as Wayne County has one of the best
looking, dedicated memorials across Nebraska. The Memorial has a perpetual care fund that
would welcome any donations. Also, any new military Veterans in Wayne County wishing to
have their name engraved upon the panels may do so. Tom Hansen CPA in Wayne would be able
to assist with either item.

Mr. Poppy Man we will miss you but your impact upon our lives and those of thousands more
can never be forgotten. May you rest in peace and may your family find comfort in knowing
your generous heart and appreciation of Veterans will live on with the Wayne County
Veterans Memorial and The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Day each
Memorial Day weekend. God Bless.

Bud & Beverly Neel

From the Wayne Daily News website

BURIAL
Omaha National Cemetery
Sarpy County, Nebraska
Section 1 Site 515

Grave marker for Dennis E. Otte

Photo by David L Aten Sr from the Find A Grave website

To view a short article about Dennis Otte click on the following link:

An early mission...

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