Harold Eyrich

Harold E. "Kix" Eyrich born May 30, 1923, in Evanston, Ill., to Harold R. Eyrich and Florence Howard Reckitt. He attended primary schools in Evanston, Keystone, S.D., Belle Fourche, S.D., and Custer, S.D. He graduated from Custer High School in 1941.  

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in June of 1942 and graduated from Pilot Training Gulf Coast Training Command, Aloe Army Air Field, Victoria, Texas, class of 43K.  He served as a single-engine fighter pilot in the European Theatre. He served a tour of duty in Iceland, and later in the 9th Air Force in France and Germany as a fighter-bomber pilot.

After hostilities, he graduated from the University of Colorado in August 1949 with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. He married Margret Thorsteinsdottir in August 1950. He worked as an engineer in Denver, Colo., until recalled to active duty with the Colorado Air National Guard. He served as a jet fighter pilot in Manston, England, until September 1953.

Harold served with several engineering firms in the Denver area and opened his own firm in May 1960. He operated as a consulting engineer in soil mechanics until retiring in March 1992.  He was a registered engineer in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. He was a life member of the Colorado Society of Engineers and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and was a former member of the Consulting Engineers Council.

Harold died Jan. 24, 2010. He was 86.

He is survived by a son, Thor; daughter, Asta; two grandchildren, Ian and Erika Lock; and his wife of 60 years, Margret.

Condolences may left online at  www.airforcememorial.org, or donations may be sent to the Air Force Memorial Foundation, Box 97026 Washington, D.C. 20077-7193.