Frank Eppenbach, 90

Drove Semi Coast To Coast With His Wife

Frank Eppenbach, 90, of Lakeland died Thursday, March 22, 2012, at Memorial Community Hospital in Blair.

A prayer service will be 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24, 2012, at Campbell-Aman Funeral Home.

Frank Eppenbach was born March 8, 1922, to Fred and Martha Elsa (Hohndorf) Eppenbach at the family home in Scottville in Holt County. He grew up in the O’Neill area and went to a country school through the eighth grade.

When WWII started, he volunteered along with his brother, but was rejected due to a heart murmur.

He married Dorothy Ann Davidson on Nov. 18, 1944, in O’Neill. For four years, the couple drove a semi hauling cattle and hay for Tom Green. Then Mr. Eppenbach went to work for the State of Nebraska Department of Roads.

In 1963, he went to work for Wonder Bread as a mechanic in Norfolk and Des Moines, Iowa, and, later as a shop foreman in Omaha.

In 1976, the couple retired from their respective jobs, bought a semi and hit the road again -- driving coast to coast for a while and finally hauling meat to the west coast and bringing fresh produce back to grocery stores in Omaha.

In 1990 both of them “retired” and sold the truck. Mr. Eppenbach worked part-time jobs retrieving semi tractors from around the country.

He was always available to help out anyone who asked him. He loved helping people work on their car, truck or even their riding lawn mower. If it had an engine, he could make it run.

In the last few years, he enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels that came to their backyard feeders.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, of Lakeland; two daughters and son-in-law, Fran and Vaughn Howard of Omaha, and Mary Young and her significant other, Jeff Rozendal; grandchildren, Claudia and Daniel Asche of Columbus, Jake and Julie Chapman of Norfolk and Damon and Trisha Gray of San Marcos, Calif.; seven great-grandchildren: Sheanne Chapman, Shiloh Chapman, Seth Chapman, Damon Gray Jr., Nina Gray and Jarrod Asche; nieces and nephews, Ellen and Jerry DeBacker of Lewiston, Idaho, Bruce Eppenbach of Ord, Margaret and Tom Pribil of Omaha, Don and Linda Conway of Jacksonville, Fla., Dorothy Warhman of Omaha, Henry and Myrna Eilers of St. Paul, Robert and June Eilers of Ralston and Kathy Barker of Oregon.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Orville Eppenbach; two sisters, Edna Conway and Lucille Eilers, and two nephews, Ed Conway and Mike Eppenbach.