Roland C. Hovendick was born May 15, 1919, at home on the family farm west of Herman to Fred and Cora (Lyons) Hovendick. He lived his entire life in the Herman farming community, except from 1920 to 1927, when his family moved to Cheyenne Wells, Colo.

He graduated from Herman High School in 1936, then joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937, and worked with that organization for two years.

In June 1941, he was drafted into the United States Army. He was the first Washington County resident to be drafted prior to the start of World War II. He was stationed in Maryland at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In January of 1944, he was sent overseas to Europe, serving in Normandy, northern France, Rhineland (German), Ardennes (Belgium), and central Europe, east of the German border. He served primarily as a light truck driver and mechanic, reaching the position of Technician 3rd grad. He was discharged from the Army in October 1945.

He then returned home to farm. He met Ruby Pedersen, and the couple married on June 22, 1948. The couple had two sons when Mr. Hovendick was called back to the military in January 1951. He was stationed at Camp Carson, Colo., and the family lived in a one-room motel room (complete with a hot plate) in Manitou, Colo. He was discharged from the Army in August 1951.

Mr. Hovendick returned to farming, and two more children were born to the couple.

While the Hovendicks continued to farm, Mr. Hovendick began driving the school bus in 1967. He first drove for the Herman Public Schools then, after the district consolidation, for the Tekamah-Herman Schools. He continued to drive until 1980, when he suffered a heart attack. After his recovery, He continued to farm until he and his wife retired and moved to Blair in 1990.

Mr. Hovendick was an active member of Herman Legion Post No. 274. He had held all offices in the organization except for chaplain. During Operation Desert Storm, he organized “care packages” for service men and women who were local or family members of the Legion Post. He spent many holiday seasons making food baskets and delivering them to the elderly in the Herman community.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Ruby; sons and daughters-in-law, Wayne and Patty Hovendick of Oakland, Terry and Tammi Hovendick of Herman; daughter, Kathleen Hovendick of Omaha; five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Juanita Hovendick of Lincoln, Mo., sisters and brothers-in-law, Lura Ruwe of Lincoln, Margaret and Jerry Rennerfeldt of Oakland, and Doris and Robert Anderson of Herman. He was preceded in death by his son, Harold.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home in Blair was in charge of arrangement.

~There is an additional obituary on file, published in the Omaha World Herald on Sept. 5, 2005. It does not contain any additional information.

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