Robert (Bob) Wilferd Wehtje of Hemingford, NE, after a long and disabling illness passed away on July 13, 2022. The fourth son of a farming couple, Bob was born July 1, 1938, in the shadow of Mt. St. Helens in Toutle, a farming and logging community in western Washington. Two younger sisters were later added to complete the family of eight.
Finishing his secondary education, Bob graduated from Auburn Adventist Academy (near Seattle, WA) in 1956. That fall he and classmate Marcia Howard enrolled at Walla Walla College in eastern Washington, where Bob graduated in 1961 with a B.S. in accounting. During their college years Bob and Marcia’s friendship matured into marriage, and to them over the next several years were born Steven Robert, Ronald Mark, Renee Marcia (stillborn), Diane Laverne, and Curtis Virgil.
After graduation Bob became the farm and dairy manager for Monterey Bay Academy (MBA) in coastal Northern California. Though he did well at his work and enjoyed it, Bob hoped to farm on his own. When a fellow MBA teacher inherited the Charlie Evans homestead west of Hemingford, but did not want to leave teaching to work the farm, Bob sensed an opportunity and offered to sharecrop the property. After several years of sharecropping, then renting the farm, Bob was finally able to buy it. In his early years there, because he had a college degree and limited previous experience, Bob was sometimes called “the book farmer.” But with disciplined and intelligent work through those early years, he bought two more farm sites and rented additional farmland. He even started a small trucking company to sell his corn and hay directly to local ranchers. Beside the various crops, Bob also raised and sold cattle, taking particular pride in his herd of more than 200 red angus.
Bob began flying while in college. When he and the growing family moved to the farm, Bob brought along a Stinson 10A, a "project" plane. It was eventually re-covered with new fabric, flown a few times, and is now in a hangar at the Alliance airport. Bob got a new Cessna Skyhawk 172 in 1981, enjoyed several years flying it, often landing on the farm. His last plane was a Piper Aero, co-owned with three other local pilots. He was never happier than when flying over the area farmland, pointing out the different crops and properties he knew.
Bob was a lifelong member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He served on the local church school board and on the board of Platte Valley Academy, an SDA boarding secondary school his and Marcia’s children attended. He also served on the PREMA board for 20 years, helping to manage and steer the rural electric association.
After the children were all grown, educated and on their own, Marcia and Bob divorced and went their separate ways. Marcia moved to Texas, lived near son Ron and his family, and continued her teaching career. In 1999 Bob married Rose Rozmiarek, a woman with the right background for the challenging times to come: her early years with farm-life experience, and adult years with hospital and other medical care experience. They enjoyed working on the farm and ranch together, and they enjoyed travel, especially to the Black Hills. When Bob’s health unexpectedly broke, Rose was able to carry on the farm's management while also providing and coordinating his medical care. For all the help she received during these last years, Rose is deeply grateful, particularly to neighbors Sam and Jeannette Hucke and to her sister and brother-in-law Nancy and Dennis Mazanec.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 23, at 2:00 in the Hemingford Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to the Hemingford Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.
Online condolences may be left at www.batesgould.com.