Richard Kuehn HARTINGTON — Richard Jule Kuehn, 84, was born to Henry and Hilda (Merkel) Kuehn Oct. 25, 1939, in Menominee. On Oct. 24, 2024, he was reunited with his parents; brothers, Calvin, who died shortly after birth, and Jim in 2012; sisters, Susan Hesse in 2013, and Shirley Steffen in 2020; and our Lord in Heaven.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Oct. 29 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Hartington, with Rev. Owen Korte officiating.

Burial of his cremated remains followed at St. Michael’s Cemetery, Hartington.

Visitation and a vigil service were Oct. 28 at the church. The family also received friends one hour prior to the Mass Tuesday, at the church.

Arrangements were under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home, Hartington.

Dick grew up in Fordyce, attending Saint John the Baptist Catholic School. He began work at a young age helping area farmers. He helped in the construction of Gavins Point Dam and spent a short time working in Omaha and Denver, Colo. Dick moved to Hartington in 1958, where he and his brother, Jim, owned and operated The Standard Station until 1965. In 1959, while in the service station, he became a volunteer fireman for Hartington, serving until 1970.

In 1965, Dick began employment with Consumers Public Power, later to become Nebraska Public Power District, where he continued to work as a lineman/serviceman until his retirement Jan. 31, 2001. While working full time for the power company, he operated a tree cutting and stump removal business after hours and on the weekends. He removed hundreds of trees with Dutch Elm disease in the community and on the Hartington Golf Course. In addition, he took down all the poplar trees that lined the fairways on the golf course. He also tended bar in the evenings at the VFW Club.

In 2004, he began driving a school bus to activities for Cedar Catholic High School. He took a full-time route in 2006. He retired the full-time route in the spring of 2019, after which he substituted until Christmas of 2023.

He married Patricia Anne Kramer, daughter of Alvin and Maxine Kramer, May 5, 1962, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Hartington. Together, they raised their five children while living and working in Hartington.

Dick was a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church. He and Pat served as the heads of Cedar Catholic Development and Cedar’s “300 Club” while their children were attending Cedar Catholic. Dick and Pat also volunteered at the Holy Trinity Garage Sale for many years.

Surviving family members include his wife of 62 years, Pat; children, Bill (girlfriend, Sonya Fleeman), Columbus; Jane (partner, Theresa Rein), Lincoln; Rick (Stacy), Hartington; Joe (Charity), Lincoln; and Mark (Denise), Hartington; 13 grandchildren, Bill’s - Shelby (fiancé, Chad Opplinger, his children, Eryx and Drecklyn), and Ben; Rick’s - Macalister, Samuel and Harrison. Joe’s, Audrey Musgrave (Tyler, and their daughter, Della), Alyson Jackson (Tommy), Marissa and Delaney; Mark’s - Dylan, Brooklyn, Isaac and Alex; siblings, Sharon Hames (Francis), South Sioux City, and Patrick (Missy), Fordyce; and in-laws, Joan and Bob Meier, Omaha; Ty Kramer, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Dan and Renee Kramer, Yankton, S.D.

Also preceding him in death were his in-laws, Alvin and Maxine Kramer; and brothers-in-law, John Hesse, George Steffen and Don Kramer.

Instead of flowers, Dick asks that memorials be made to a bussing fund at Cedar Catholic.

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer shakes hands with Cedar Knox Public Power District General Manager Mike Lammers during a campaign stop in Hartington last week. She spoke to about a dozen area residents for nearly an hour during a stop at Hartelco.