Joseph Edward Eckert's Obituary
Joseph “Joe” Edward Eckert, born May 23, 1969, in Breckenridge, Minnesota, passed away on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, in Dallas, Texas. Originally from Wahpeton, North Dakota.Joe moved to Texas to attend Trinity University in San Antonio, graduating in 1992. Joe continued his education at the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of The Texas Journal of Business Law and graduated Order of the Coif in 1997. After law school, Joe embarked on a successful legal career that began at Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, in Austin, Texas. Joe spent the last 11 years of his legal career as a partner at McCall, Parkhurst, and Horton, LLP in Dallas. During his public finance law career, Joe served as bond counsel, underwriter counsel, trustee counsel, and insurer counsel. He was a key player in many financings for student loans, health care, education, and toll roads across the state of Texas and beyond. Joe was a highly respected attorney by clients and colleagues alike.Although his legal career was impressive, the most important and most successful role Joe played was father to his three children, Avery (15), Mary (13), and Charles (Charlie, 10). Joe loved his kids more than anything, and their happiness, security, and success was always his first priority. He especially loved spending time with his children at the family’s home on Ottertail Lake in Minnesota. Whether boating and swimming in the summer or riding the snow mobile and ice fishing in the winter, Joe loved taking Jennifer and the kids on adventures “Up North.”When he wasn’t working or spending time Up North, Joe pursued foreign travel with passion. He especially loved traveling to tropical and remote locales in Central America, South America, and Asia. Joe was preceded in death by his beloved father, Robert Laird Eckert. Joe is survived by: his wife, Jennifer, and their three children; his mother Dorothy Eckert; his sister Ann Marie and her husband John McBride, and their children, Annika and Caitlin; his brother, Bob Eckert and his three children, Molly, Robby, and Scotty; his mother-in-law, Judy Thurman; his brother and sister-in-law, Clay and Wendy Thurman and their children, Abby and Kate; and his sister-in-law, Linde Thurman and her daughter Kessa. Joe was survived by countless other relatives, friends, and business associates who loved him and will miss him dearly.In Joe’s honor, please consider donating online to the Grant Halliburton Foundation: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E343076&id=3or mailing a donation to: The Honorable Robert Laird Eckert Memorial Endowment Fund at the University of North Dakota School of Law: UND Foundation 3501 University Ave Stop 8157 Grand Forks, ND 58202Memorial services for Joe will be held Sunday, October 21, at 3:30 pm at Restland Memorial Park: 13005 Greenville Ave. Dallas, Texas, 75243.Funeral arrangements for Joseph Edward Eckert have been faithfully entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery, which is located at 13005 Greenville Ave., at the intersection of Restland Road, Dallas, Texas 75243, and can be reached at (972) 238-7111
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