Murdered Bankers Were Well Known In This Area

Andreas Kjeldgaard

There has been a special interest, locally, in the bank robbery and triple murder which was committed at Big Springs, Nebraska last Friday. Two of the men were well known here.

Four employers of the Big Springs bank were shot in the back while lying on the floor of the bank as commanded by a bank robber. Three of them were fatally wounded.

Andreas Kjeldgaard, 77, and President of the town’s only bank was born and raised on a farm west of Herman. He attended the Herman schools and later attended Dana College, graduating there in 1910. He was a class mate of the Rev. P. C. Jensen of Blair and also Rev. Frank Nelson and Rev. A. V. Neve, both of Blair. Mr. Kjeldgaard was a cousin of Mrs. Jess West of Blair, and a relative of Thorvald Petersen.

Franklin Kjeldgaard, 25, who was the only one of the four who escaped with his life, was seriously wounded and is said to be paralyzed as a result of his wounds. The younger Kjeldgaard was a roommate of Dick Vinton in Wesleyan in Lincoln.

Two others killed in the robbery, Cashier Glenn Hendrickson, 59, and bookkeeper, Mrs. Lois Ann Hothan, 35, were not known here.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~