April 20 2020
Dean Colburn April 20, 2020 Share this obituary Send Sympathy Gifts Sign Guestbook| View Guestbook Entries| Send Sympathy Card| Memorial Donation Dean Howard Colburn was born north of Valentine NE on April 8, 1930 at his Granddad and Grandmother Arnolds home, the second of seven children born to Elizabeth Jane Arnold Colburn and Howard S. Colburn. He lived in the country and in Valentine growing up. Dean attended kindergarten in what is now Centennial Hall Museum. His Aunt Ardath Arnold Bush was his teacher part of the year. Grade school highlights included Valentines Day with a big box decorated to hold Valentines for classmates, May Day when students were chosen to wind the tall May pole with strips of colored crepe paper and Christmas gift exchanges with a 25 cent limit. (Hamburgers were a dime and a glass of milk a nickel.) Dean and Dick drove the family’s two milk cows and about eight others to the city grazing ground after the morning milking then brought them home in the evening. They dropped the other cows off and took theirs home to milk. They sold and delivered extra milk for eight cents a quart. Dean attended Valentine High School. As a freshman he went out for football. The coach sent a football home with Dean for the summer so he spent a lot of time centering the ball to his brother Dick. That fall the team not only won every game, they prevented their opponents from scoring a single point. Dean was the only sophomore on a team of juniors and seniors. Because he rarely sat out a play, almost all the winning points started with the ball he ably centered to the quarterback. He enjoyed contributing to the book written about the team- Winning Wasn’t Enough . Dean graduated in 1948 and moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as a fingerprint technician for the FBI. A year in the big city was enough so he rode the train back to Valentine. He worked for local ranchers and an implement dealer where he assembled machinery. Dean married Delores Nadine Hull on October 4, 1951 at the Presbyterian Church in Valentine. They worked at the Ormesher ranch for a year then in 1952 moved to a tree claim filed by Delores’ Great Uncle Gus Wendler- the home ranch which was Dean’s home for the rest of his life. Four children were born to Dean and Delores- Evelyn Kay, Nadeane Sue, Keith Gene and David Eugene. Dean was a man of integrity- honest, thrifty but generous and kind. He made sure you took along something to eat if you couldn’t stay for a meal. Having a good reputation was important to him. He worked hard to take good care of his family, raise quality cattle and keep the land, fences, buildings and equipment in good shape. He followed successful range management practices including planting shelterbelts and healing blowouts that earned Natural Resource District awards for conservation. He enjoyed fishing and taught his children as well. He taught his sons shooting, hunting and trapping skills. He was a patient teacher and was willing to share his knowledge with anyone who was willing to learn. In later years he passed most things involved in running the ranch to Keith who kept him well-informed. Dean enjoyed the involvement. He was still baling hay and caring for orphan calves at age 89. The world changed forever on June 22, 2018. His plans and dreams for the ranch and family changed with Keith’s untimely death. Dean was preceded in death by his parents, brother Lee and son Keith. He is survived by his wife Delores and children, daughters Kay (Robert) Miller and Nadeane (George) Allard, son David (Christine) Colburn, daughter-in-law Kristi Colburn, brothers Dick (Marilyn), Don (Barb) and Tim (Patty), sisters Ann (Otto) Rosfeld and Shirley (Stan) Mullin, 11 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and friends. Visitation will be at Sandoz’ Chapel of the Pines on Thursday, April 23, 2020 from 5-9 p.m. Memorials may be sent to the family for a future designation. Private interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. SERVICES Visitation Thursday, April 23, 2020 Sandoz Chapel of the Pines 90125 Hatchery Rd Valentine, NE 69201 Get Directions on Google Maps Print Obituary Sign Guestbook Name: Location: Video: Image: Light A Candle Candle 1 Candle 2 Candle 3 Candle 4 Email: Please keep my message private Personal Message: Personal Message (required) Confirm: Submit Guestbook entry
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Dean Colburn April 20 2020.
Death notice for the town of: Valentine, state: Nebraska