This photo shows the Wade and Ellen Zick Memorial, a metal cross flanked by two wagon wheels set against a backdrop of rocks and farmland. Each wheel features metal cutouts: one of a church building and the other of an interior scene with an altar. The memorial combines rustic agricultural elements with spiritual imagery, symbolizing faith, community, and rural heritage.

On July 11, 1976, the sun rose over the flat horizon surrounding Zeeland, North Dakota, illuminating the wide-open landscapes in green and gold, the birds welcoming the new day with song. The day started like so many other Sundays in the quiet, prairie town. However, by the end of the day, a darkness, unmatched by a moonless night, had fallen. While the majority of residents were asleep, two beloved community members, Wade and Ellen Zick, were kidnapped and brutally murdered.

Wade Zick was 66 and served as the manager and vice president of the McIntosh County Bank branch in Zeeland. He was the director of the choir and an organist at Zion Lutheran Church. Ellen Zick, 65 years old, was a member of the choir. Both loved to play cards and were known as two of the finest people in town, according to a local pastor.

The Zicks were abducted from their home, after being shaken from their slumber by three local men, brothers David and Sebastian Feist and Gregory Huber. The Zicks were forced to go to the bank where Wade had worked for many years. The perpetrators, ages 18 to 21, received less than $4,000 dollars in the heist before driving the Zicks to a gravel pit just north of Zeeland. It was there that the Zicks were gunned to death in a senseless, horrific crime that sent shock waves, not only through the small town of Zeeland, but across the entire state of North Dakota and beyond.

After a four-day manhunt, the three men were apprehended as they attempted to cross the Canadian border in Washington state. They were all sentenced to life in prison.

While decades have passed since the heinous crime occurred, questions still linger, a mark left on both the family of Wade and Ellen Zick and the entire community. They were cherished members of Zeeland, devoted Christians, and kind and generous people. For this reason, this memorial has been erected to honor them and the legacy they left behind.