EDMUND LODDEKE YEPEZ
A LIFE WELL LIVED
Edmund Loddeke Yepez, the only child of Hector and Jane née Loddeke Yepez, was born November 4, 1961, in Saint Louis, Missouri. He was baptized during infancy at St Luke the Evangelist. Ed had his First Communion and Confirmed his Faith at Our Lady of the Pillar.
He attended the Parkway Schools and in 1980, he graduated from DeSmet High School. He completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1984 and received his degree in dentistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 1988.
Ed continued his training by joining the United States Army. While in the Army, he was awarded a general practice residency at Fort Carson, Colorado. He spent six years in the Army, attaining the rank of major. He was stationed in Colorado, Korea, and California. After leaving the Army, he came home and completed his orthodontic training at St. Louis University, graduating from that program in 1997. Fortune smiled upon him again when he joined the practice of Donald R. Oliver (the man who originally inspired Dr. Yepez, then a teenager, to become an orthodontist)! Dr. Oliver was a mentor, advisor, and friend. Dr. Yepez has enjoyed his private practice since 1998.
On November 6, 1999, he married Michelle Louise Prochaska at Peace Lutheran Church. Ed is survived by his wife Michelle, and their children, Christina Rose and Nathaniel Hector Yepez. He is further survived by his in-laws, Anthony and Anita Prochaska, and his brother-in-law, Jim, alongside numerous cousins, other relatives, many friends, and professional acquaintances. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Besides his orthodontic practice, specializing in working with children, Ed enjoyed reading and learning, skiing, bicycling, and talking about, as well as, driving cars; but most of all he enjoyed the family dinners; getting up to date on all the kids were doing and studying.
Ed experienced good health until developing an autoimmune disorder. As his condition did not improve and compounded with other infections, he entered Barnes Jewish Hospital for testing and evaluation. Ed was admitted and despite the very best care from multiple teams of doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses, he was unable to withstand all that was happening to him. Having received a loving farewell from his family and friends, he died peacefully on Thurs, May 23, at 6:15pm.
A memorial visitation will be held on Thursday, June 13 from 10:30 am until time of service at 11:30 am at Peace Lutheran Church 737 Barracksview Rd. Burial to follow at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery at 1:00 pm. A service of Kutis Funeral Homes.
In lieu of flowers:
Ed was a huge proponent of education. He wants future students to have the same opportunities he was given. Higher education is very expensive, so we are creating a scholarship fund to help defer those costs.
Reading is a fundamental building block of education. Many silently struggle learning to read, so they may give up and may not realize the potential that is in them. Since parents are the only ones holding school districts accountable for results, Lifeline2Literacy was created.
Edmund Yepez memorial scholarship fund link. http://weblink.donorperfect.com/YepezMemorial
Lifeline2Literacy.com
To the friends and family…
I am sorry for your loss.
Ed was a great guy and always friendly. We did not hang out much, but we shared the joy of spending time with our loved ones and German cars.
He will be sadly missed, and prayers go out to all who knew him.
God bless.
Thank you! He did love hanging out with all the car guys. 🙂
We are each enriched by the people who serve with us. I will always remember the “yepper”. Besides being a great dentist he was a model soldier. Rest in peace
Thank you. He always remembered his time with you fondly. I know you taught him a lot.
Ed and I were neighbors growing up, and we both realized we wanted to be dentists around the same time in Middle School. He treated many of my patients and his loss will be felt by many.
To the Yepez Family: I am sorry to hear about Ed and for your loss. We were orthodontic classmates. Even though we have spoken in many years, I have very fond memories of him. Ed was “the salt of the Earth”. May this time be as easy as possible for you.
Thank you! He did love hanging out with all the car guys. 🙂
So shocked and saddened by Ed’s passing. The three and a half years we spent together as associates were among the most enjoyable of my years in practice. It was such a pleasure to meet Ed first as a patient when he was a student at DeSmet, and then again to meet again as he completed his orthodontic residency at Saint Louis University. It was as an associate that I really got to know how deep the river of character attributes ran: patients and others first, honesty and moral turpitude, intellectual curiosity, interests beyond dentistry and the specialty of orthodontics, humor both subtle and outright joy, then with Michelle, and their love of family. Very patient. So appreciative of his office staff. Ed displayed it all. We will miss him. Don and Sandy
After consultation with Dr. Yepez on 11/9 he put my first set of braces in on 11/16. I mentioned to him that I’m a degreed musician and learning to play the trombone. He mentioned that his daughter learned how to play the flute from his mother. On May 30th when I’d checked VM on my phone while at work, I received an urgent message from his scheduler Danielle to call the office as soon as possible, which I did. I’d already known that Dr. Yepez was hospitalized but didn’t expect to hear the sad news from Danielle, started to tear up as I returned to the office. His smile and friendly manner will be missed. My condolences to Dr. Yepez’s family and friends.
To the Yepez family: I want to offer my most sincere condolences for your loss. Dr. Yepez provided orthodontic care for my three children and was recently providing braces for my grandson. My youngest son was born with a cleft lip and palate and Dr. Yepez was meticulous in his care. He provided care to children at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in the Cleft Lip and Palate team. He was a wonderful man and will be truly missed.
Dr. Yepez took great care of two of our kids and will be missed. I am sorry for your loss.
I am so sad to hear this news. Dr. Yepez was not only a great orthodontist for my daughter, but he was such an incredibly nice and patient man. Dr. Yepez’s family and friends will be in my prayers in the days to come.
Michelle,
Alan & I have you & the entire family covered in prayer! We are so sorry to read about Ed in the Post. A tremendous loss! May you each feel God’s Presence and Love for every day to come & know you are being held in Jesus’ Loving Arms of Peace & Comfort!
We love you, Alan & Elaine
This is Vicki Thompson, where do I start. What a great boss and friend, this is a shock Dear Michelle, Christina and Nathaniel I’m so sorry many prayers to all of you You were great to work with and will be missed by many
Some of my fondest memories of Ed were the several weekends he spent with myself, friends, and family at Road America outside Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Great fun, food, and spectacular cars. Ed you will be forever remembered. Your Best Man, Jeff.
I am so very sad to learn of Dr Yepez’ passing. He was the orthodontist for 3 of my 4 children. He was such a kind and caring man. May peace and good memories with his family and friends. Gone too soon.
Sincere condolences to Ed’s family. He and I had a lot in common – the Army, and our love of cars. And we both got the opportunity to love the same car, the black M3 he bought from me. I will miss seeing him at car events. Peace and love to the Yepez family.
My name is Molly Huffman. I was incredibly sadden by the news of Dr. Yepez’ passing. He was my orthodontist for many years. Not only did he help me improve my confidence by correcting my smile, he always brought the best customer service to the table. Dr. Yepez was always wonderful, thorough, and patient with any client he was taking care of.
My deepest and sincerest condolences go out to his friends and family. May he rest in peace.
I just learned of Dr. Yepez passing. He did my husband’s orthodontics and years later, our son’s brackets and braces. He was so kind to our son, who is neurodivergent. We had a few that said not to bother with orthodontics for him, but not Dr. Yepez. He saw him through the many years it took to get to straight, healthy teeth and was always so patient and sweet towards him. This man was a gift to our family. His death is a devastating loss to the community. Hugs to his family.
My father and I were both patients of Dr. Yepez, and we are very saddened to hear of his passing. He knew of my neurodiversity and he was so good to me. He was more than just a good doctor and orthodontist, he was a good person and a good friend. He enjoyed what he did and he was very personable and friendly. He will be missed dearly by my family and I. Rest well Doctor Yepez. I will try to keep those retainers on.
I am just seeing this for the first time. I am sad for the loss of Ed. He was one of the fvery first students I met At Washington University School of Dental Medicine. During our first yeat of dental school he was so helpful to me with tutoring me in Biochemistry and helping me through the biomedical sciences. Such a great guy will to help others when he could. God Bless you my friend.
I just saw Dr Yepez’s memorial in St Louis University’s “Universitas” magazine. Dr Yepez lived a full life and I’m sorry to just be reading these details here. I would have enjoyed a bike ride or reading in a cafe with him had we had a personal relationship. Instead, I knew Dr Yepez through his kindness and service to our three daughters, each of whom had the privilege of orthodonture through him. He was kind enough to negotiate a “three for” family financial plan which helped us greatly and he was highly recommended by our family dentist, whom we also greatly appreciated and loved. His efforts served many, especially his beloved family.
To the Yepez family.
My thoughts are with your family.
I just learned today of Ed passing. I knew Ed and Michelle from the car events, clubs and track days in STL. I moved away from STL but had communicated with Ed in the past couple of years and discussed getting together when I was back in STL for business but it never happened. I am very sad we never got back together and I will continue to miss him and to think fondly of Ed. I considered Ed a wonder man who I never witnessed an unkind word are action from. A plus was Ed was also always nice to my dog Frank:)
Sincerely,
John Hoffner