Eileen Jo Said Dykema
Eileen was a beautiful woman who loved God first and loved her family and friends deeply. She touched many souls with her contagious laughter and beautiful smile. She was “best” friend to many including her daughter,husband and mother. She was active with her church in many ways but most recently through serving food to those in need. She was truly a child of God with an unquenchable thirst to know him better daily.
Eileen was born on June 13, 1957, in Inglewood,CA. to her parents Jerry and Bettie Said. Eileen was the eldest child of 3 with younger brothers Matthew and David sharing the home. As a child, Eileen grew up in Santa Barbara graduating from San Marcos High School. While in high school and college her family was members of Trinity Baptist Church. Where she and her brothers sang in choirs and they toured two weeks every summer to churches, prisons and military bases. Camp Pendleton,CA. was a favorite to visit and share the gospel. She went to college first at Santa Barbara City College and then got her Bachelor’s Degree from California State University Fresno in Fashion Merchandizing. She worked as a manager in retail sales after completing her degree.
In Fresno,while going to college, she met the love of her life,soul mate and best friend Kevin Dykema. They were married on May 1,1982 and were blessed with 35 wonderful years of marriage. They started their marriage living in Santa Maria,CA where they bought their first home and where first son Chris was born. With the arrival of children,Eileen became a stay-at-home mom taking care of the family- a true blessing.
After the Challenger Tragedy impacted Kevin’s Job,the family moved to Littleton,CO which is where son Jeff and daughter Brianne were born. The family had a wonderful life in Colorado and was blessed with wonderful friends who became their Colorado family. Memorable during this period were numerous summer camping trips and family vacations that created deep and lasting friendships and uncountable family memories which Eileen meticulously documented.
In 2007, Eileen and Kevin moved to West Chester, PA again with Kevin’s job and then in 2013 her final move was back to Palmdale, CA.
Among Eileen’s passions were travel (especially National Parks but really anything to connect with family), teaching junior high school girls about God, family history and genealogy, home decoration, church activities (especially fellowship with her small groups which were true blessings), do-it-yourself projects and absolutely anything to do with creating family memories.
Eileen is survived by her husband Kevin,Children Christopher (wife KJ and Grandson Parker), Jeffrey (wife Bethany) and Brianne (Fiance Joe Parker), Mom and Dad Bettie and Jerry Said and mother-in-law Evelyn Dykema. Also surviving Eileen are brothers Matthew (wife Joanna,sons Jerry and Benaiah) and David (wife Julie, son Luke, daughter Elise); brother-in-law Kurt (wife Susan); Sister-in-law Kerri Spirakis (husband Greg, daughters Eleni and Yianna); and sister-in-law Kim Wells (husband Jack, daughters Jennifer Wells, Sara Matthews, and Nicole Wells). She was proceeded in death by Father-in-Law John Dykema.
A memorial service will be held to celebrate Eileen’s life on September 23, 2017, at 1PM, at Central Christian Church in Lancaster, CA.
In lieu of flowers,donations can be made to STOP homeless ministry at Central Christian Church (put “STOP for Eileen” in memo field of check) or Antelope Valley CareNet Women’s Resource Center (again put Eileen’s name in memo field of check).