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George L. Herbst

1934 - 2019

George L. Herbst obituary, 1934-2019, Reno, NV

BORN

1934

DIED

2019

George Herbst Obituary

George L. Herbst

Reno - Longtime Yerington, Nevada resident George L. Herbst passed away on April 14, 2019 in Reno, Nevada surrounded by his family.

George was born on March 19, 1934 to father Otto Herbst and mother Evelyn Lou Chambers in Sacramento, California. George began to work at age 14 at Marcus Auto Parts in Sacramento. It was there that people began to notice his natural born mechanical skill and he was soon working on engines and transmissions. He also worked at McClellan Air Force Base for a time. With Georges' emerging mechanical ability and his love for high speed it was only a short time before he became interested in racing cars at age 17. While George was building his first Race Car at 17, he was biten by a Black Widow Spider. George then decided to paint a Black Widow emblem on the side of his race car, and became the first Spider Man of the 1950's.

He became one of the best hard top racers all over California and later Nevada. George wasn't interested in second place, he raced to win.

George met Sacramento beauty Joy Maxine Curd and after a short time dating they were married on December 1, 1951. They were really just a couple of young kids who ended up spending the rest of their lives together.

George and Maxine moved to Yerington, Nevada in 1953 where George worked for 18 years at the Anaconda Copper Mine. He worked for the Standard Slag Company at their iron mine near Yerington for a short time before operating the Hancock Service Station in Yerington with Maxine as bookkeeper. George was honest to a fault and would be more than fair to anyone coming into the station whom he thought might need a break or extra time on their bill.

In the late 70's, George received his Contractors License and opened his own business, Herbst Station Repair. He worked on anything associated with the service station business from changing a gasket to building new stations. Herbst Station Repair became a full-time family business with Maxine again taking care of the books, son Wes joining the business full time in 1998 after helping George from the beginning when he could, and son-in-law Mike Weeks estimating jobs in the office and working in the field. They worked all over Nevada and California from the smallest mom and pop stations to the biggest chains. A lot of the smaller stations were being pushed out of business by the big name stations during this time and George always made a point to help out the small stations when he could. A lot of times he would charge only for the labor for his work and rely on his inventory of dispensers, computers, and anything else service station related to do the job cheaper. He was always able to fix parts and components rather than just buying new. Wes continues to operate Herbst Station Repair.

In his off time, George liked to play around in the shop working on his many projects, He was an outdoor guy and loved to hunt, fish, prospect, metal detect, and discover anything in the wide- open spaces of Nevada.

Every summer for 54 straight years the Herbst family has taken a two-week vacation at Lake Tahoe. Everybody, old friends, new friends, parents, kids, dogs and bears were welcome. It was a time to relax, recharge, tell stories, celebrate the new, and remember the past.

George was preceded in death by brother Ed and sisters Delores, Betty, Grace and Louella.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years Maxine, daughter Arlene (Bob) son Wes (Monique) and grandsons Cody and Wyatt Herbst. By: GP

Published by The Reno Gazette Journal and Lyon County News Leader on May 26, 2019.
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3 Entries

Uncle George always mint a lot to us. He will be greatly missed. So, sorry for your loss. He was a great man. We love you all.

Tina Casperson & Family,
Tyrone Cramblit

Tina Casperson

August 4, 2019

We are so thankful that we made it to yerington to see George. We had no idea it would be our last. He will leave a void in our hearts. Gerorge was always the one everyone looked up to. He was a very talented, smart man that we all could learn from and we did. We loved the way he always joked around with us. He was blessed with a wonderful family and we feel lucky to have been a part of that . Prayers to you at this really hard time . Love to you all. Rick and Helen weeks

May 28, 2019

He and your Mom were the best neighbors anyone could have. They kept an eye out for us and were there if we needed anything. He was a true gentleman and a really great guy. We miss him. Leanna and Tim Ogle

Leanna Ogle

May 26, 2019

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