Robert R. Sugden

Bob (Robert) Sugden (77) of rural Sterling, Nebraska passed away on June 29, 2023 after a brief illness. He was born in Tecumseh, Nebraska on April 4, 1946 to Ralph and Doris (Dunkle) Sugden. He was the third of four children. He attended elementary school at Spring Creek and graduated high school from Sterling Public School. He was raised and lived his entire life in the Sterling area. He was a lifelong farmer. To him nothing was better than good soil, clean fields, and a well-timed rain.
On August 20, 1972 Bob married Jeanne (Oberg) Sugden in Partridge, Kansas. They had three children. Together they built a life that revolved around their family and the farm. He was a hard worker and taught his children the same work ethic. They spent many hours beside him working the ground, irrigating, raising hogs, rogueing fields, and cutting thistles.
Bob had many friends and to him a stranger was just a friend he hadn't met yet. He loved the outdoors and spent a great deal of his life exploring them. He was usually seen in the company of a dog. He enjoyed hunting with friends and his kids. He took several hunting trips out west with his friends over the years. The stories shared from these trips still bring a smile.
He supported his kids and grandkids in the activities they chose. When the girls were in high school many Sunday mornings were spent on horseback. During these rides he taught them sometimes church doesn't have to occur in a building. He was a regular gateman at the girl's horseshows. The last softball game he attended was watching two of his granddaughters play for the first time on the same team. One of his proudest moments was seeing his grandson, Axton run the combine the last several years and called him the best grain cart operator he had ever seen.
He had not cut back on the ground he farmed until the last year. He kept a few hundred acres and was ready to retire from farming at the end of this year. His family knew if he died farming he would die happy and he got his wish.
He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; nephew, Leon Sugden; son, Rustin (Dawn) Sugden; daughter, Jennifer (Chad) Engle and daughter, Jill (William) Scott; eight grandchildren, Karsten Bruns (Honary), Addilyn, Axton, and Acelyn Sugden, Faith and Hutch Engle, and Cooper and Hadlee Scott; sister, Peggy (Melvin) Parde; brother, Delwyn (Elaine) Sugden; and numerous, nephews, nieces, and cousins. He was preceded death by his parents; Ralph and Doris Sugden; brother, Walter Sugden; and his father and mother-in-law, Leslie and Bertrice Oberg.
Bob's service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, July 6, 2023 at the Sterling Community Center with Pastor Angi Vertz and Jim Wallasky officiating. To honor a man who always wore jeans, lived a life in ag, and stressed to his family he would be buried in them please dress casual. Burial will take place in the Sterling Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Zink-Fox Funeral Home on Wednesday from noon until 8:00 P.M. with the family greeting relatives and friends from 5:30 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established to Sterling Community Center. www.foxfuneralhome.net Arrangements entrusted to Zink-Fox Funeral Home of Sterling.