Leon Stulken

Former Hastings resident, Leon Victor Stulken, 91, of Omaha, Nebraska, died Friday, June 8, 2007 at Methodist Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska.

Services will be Friday, June 15, 2007; 11:00 A.M. at First St. Paul's Lutheran Church with Pastor Joel Remmers & Rev. Imogene Stulken officiating. Military rites will be at the graveside at Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, Nebraska, Friday, June 15, 2007; 2:30 P.M. Visitation will be Thursday, June 14, 2007; 6PM-8PM with family present at the funeral home & Friday, June 15, 2007 1 hr. prior to service at the church. Memorials may be given to First St. Paul's Lutheran church for mission work.

Son of August & Lorena (Finnigsmier) Stulken, he was born September 20, 1915, on a farm settled by his grandfather in the 1870's. He attended grade school at District 80 and graduated in 1933 from Hastings High School. On September 20, 1940, he was united in marriage to Lenora Margaretha Katzberg. They were married 66 years. At the time of their 65th wedding anniversary, with the assistance of daughter Jeanette, Leon purchased a new wedding ring set for Lenora, to replace one lost some years earlier. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he went into farming and farmed north of Hastings until his retirement. But for Leon, farming was more than an occupation. It was creating a home and providing for his family. He considered his family to be the most important "crop" he raised. His children remember him as one who quietly encouraged them, but never pressured them to reach their fullest potential. One of his favorite Bible verses was "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." For Leon, all of creation was a gift from God, a gift to be tended with care and respect. And since God rested from creation on the seventh day, Leon rarely worked in the fields on Sundays. During World War II, he served with the Army Air Corps in England and France, working as an aircraft mechanic. Leon was highly respected and on good terms with all. He was good friends with all his neighbors, some of whom had been his war buddies. Although his formal education ended with high school, Leon continued to learn and study. He attended agriculture classes in Hastings following his military service. Throughout his life, he worked on designing machines and equipment that would do a job better and he held a patent for a "device for heating absorbent surfaces within an enclosed space with solar thermal radiation." Leon was a living example of 1 Corinthians 13, 'love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs..." he was a lifelong faithful member of First St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hastings, where he served on the church council for a number of terms.

He is survived by his loving wife, Lenora; four children and their spouses: Marilyn and Thomas R. Rench of Racine, Wisconsin; Jeanette and Thomas E. Searson of Omaha; Imogene Stulken and Bruce Brolsma of Tewksbury, Massachusetts; and Don and Carol Stulken of Marion, Iowa; seven grandchildren: Thomas L., Michael, and Stephanie Searson; Kerstin Brolsma; and Scott, David, and Laura Stulken; one sister, Irma Eigenberg of Hastings; three sisters-in-law: Thelma Augustin and Dora Hermann of Juniata, and Ruth MacCasland of Arizona; and one brother-in-law, Wilbur Katzberg, also of Hastings, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Leta Krull and Ola White, and an infant son and infant daughter. A devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, he will be sorely missed by many.