Joel “Butch” Ecklund

Joel “Butch” Ecklund passed away in San Francisco, CA on August 17, 2024 at the age of 83 following a short illness.

Butch was born on June 5, 1941 in Minneapolis, MN where he lived until 1950 when the family moved to Columbia Heights, MN. He graduated from Columbia Heights High School in 1959. Following graduation Butch enlisted in the Air Force in October of 1960, where he served 4 years - which included a tour of duty in Germany for 2 of them. After returning from the Air Force he attended Dunwoody Technical College back in Minneapolis, MN. With his degree he went to work for Control Data in Bloomington for only a short time, then took a job with Haskin Corp where he installed equipment in dairies around the world. In 1971 he permanently moved to San Francisco and continued working at Haskin Manufacturing until 1978 when he started his own business. His business, CoDeck Mfg. used his invention of labeling date codes on milk cartons, which turned out to be a very successful business for him. Butch retired around 2000 and sold his company located in Sausalito, CA. In his retirement, he spent his time golfing, fixing-up collector cars, and spending time at his homes in Clear Lake, CA., Sausalito, CA., Palm Desert, CA., and, for a few years, New London, MN.

Preceded in death by father, Earl A. Ecklund, and mother, Hazel J. Ecklund.

Survived by his sisters, Edith “Sue” Gibbs, and Toni Hanson; brother, Randy Ecklund; nephews, Todd Hanson, Jeff Hanson, Corey Gibbs, and Eric Ecklund; nieces, Jennifer Gibbs, Kelly Hanson Schickling, and Andrea Ecklund.

Rest in peace dear brother, you will be missed.