Paul Waltman

ORD - Paul Waltman, 89, of Ord, died Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, at the Good Samaritan Health System in Kearney.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Ord. Pastor Russel J. Troester will officiate. Burial will be in the Ord City Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Ord VFW Post No. 7029 and American Legion Post No. 38.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Ord Memorial Chapel.

Paul was born June 14, 1922, on the family farm near St. Paul to George and Anna (Wolinski) Waltman.

On Oct. 15, 1950, Paul married Evelyn Franzen at Gothenburg.

Survivors of the immediate family include his wife, Evelyn of Ord; a son, Jeff of North Loup; two daughters, Linda Nance of Ord and Janet Shriner of Littleton, Colo.; seven grandchildren; a brother and sister-in-law, Fred and Marj Wozniak of St. Paul; a sister, Rosemary Zeleski, of Murry, Utah; and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Lucille Sommers of Florissant, Colo., Alvina Krueger of Hebron, Otto and Lois Franzen and Marvin and Jill Franzen, all of Gothenburg.

Other survivors include seven great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He spent his childhood on the farm and attended District No. 8 country school.

In the early 1940s, he attended a shop and mechanic night school. Paul entered the U.S. Army in May 1945. His infinity training was at Camp Hood, Texas, and he was later stationed in Naples, Italy. While in the service he learned to be a tune-up specialist and was discharged in December 1946. After the service, he moved to Gothenburg where he worked as a mechanic at Gothenburg Motor Co. and served on the Gothenburg Fire Department.

The couple lived on a farm near Gothenburg. In 1956, they moved to a farm near North Loup where they began their family farm that they operated until 1995. They continued to live on the farm until November 2011, when they moved into Ord to Grandview Assisted and Independent Living Center.

Paul was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church where he served in many capacities. He belonged to the Ord VFW Post No. 7029, North Loup American Legion Post No. 285, Nebraska Cattleman's and Soybean Association and Farm Bureau. He was on the Olean District No. 14 School Board and the Valley County ASCS Committee. He enjoyed NASCAR, collecting coins and participating in cornhusking contests.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother and sister-in-law, Clarence and Connie Waltman; four sisters and five brothers-in-law, Mayme and Bill Pabian, Adalaide and Clarence Jensen, Luella and Marvin Jensen, Josephine and Leonard Gorecki and Zig Zeleski; and two brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law, Clarence and Bernice Bodtke and Paul Krueger.

Memorials are suggested to St. John's Lutheran Church or American Leukemia Association.

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