David M. Hamilton, Sr.

Funeral services for David M. Hamilton, Sr., will be held on Tuesday, September 30, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church in Holdrege, Nebraska with Reverend Karen Watson officiating. Interment will be at Prairie Home Cemetery in Holdrege with Military Honors provided by the Martin-Horn American Legion Post #66 in conjunction with the Offutt AFB Military Honor Guard.

David Morris Hamilton, Sr., 91, of Pratt, KS (formerly of Holdrege), passed away on Thursday, September 25, 2014, at Pratt Rehabilitation and Residence Center. He was born September 16, 1923, in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child of Forrest Henry and Edith (Morris) Hamilton. With the passing of his mother following childbirth, his grandfather, Dr. Abraham L. Hamilton and his wife, Nellie, took him into their home in Manchester, Oklahoma. He returned to Omaha upon the marriage of his father to his step-mother, Ruth Ellen Alcorn. He was educated in the Omaha Public School System and graduated from Omaha North High School in 1941.

David attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha until his induction into the U.S. Army Air Force at Fort Snelling, MN in February 1943. As a member of the Air Corps weather service, he received formal meteorology training at Carleton College, Northfield, MN. He later completed Gunnery School in Laredo, TX and served as a B-29 gunnery instructor at Lowery Field, Denver, CO and Buckingham Air Force Base, Fort Myers, FL. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant in February 1946. David returned to school on the G.I. Bill and graduated from Doane College in June 1949. Through a mutual friend, he met Catherine Hanna Carson, and they were united in marriage on August 28, 1949. The couple were blessed with two children: David M., Jr., and Jane Ruth.

In July of 1952, David graduated with a M.A. in Microbiology from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was hired by Becton-Dickinson as the company's first bacteriologist. He worked for B-D in Columbus and later in Holdrege, retiring in December 1985. David and Catherine enjoyed their retirement; traveling, playing bridge, golfing, and being with family until Catherine's death on April 3, 1999.

David met Patty (Schoonover) Kenney at a Doane College Reunion Weekend and they were married on March 25, 2000. They spent the next 10 years traveling to places like Switzerland and Alaska, making new friends, and staying active at the Immanuel Village in Omaha. Patty preceded David in death on August 20, 2010.

David was a member of the St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church of Holdrege, where he was a lay reader. He served on the Columbus Library Board, the Holdrege City Council, in the International Executive Service Corps in Cairo, Egypt, and as a volunteer at the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland. David was a past President of the Holdrege Kiwanis Club and a past Exalted Ruler of the Columbus Elks Lodge. He was a 50-year member of the American Chemical Society. David enjoyed airplanes, trains, and traveling. He never met a stranger and was always striking up a conversation with whomever he met.

Besides his parents and wives; David was preceded in death by his step-mother, Ruth. He leaves to mourn his passing; his children: David M. Hamilton, Jr. and his wife, Mary, of Sugar Land, TX, and Jane R. Melroy and her husband, Dennis, of Pratt; five grandchildren: Tobin Melroy of League City, TX, Brent Melroy and his fiancé, Monica Bretches, and Erin Melroy, all of Wichita, KS, Andrew Hamilton and his wife, Emily, of Tomball, TX, and Carol Hamilton of Houston, TX; his half-brother, Bruce Hamilton and nephew, Steven Hamilton, both of Omaha; and a host of relatives and friends.

Visitation will be held on Monday, September 29, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the family greeting friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege.

A memorial has been established in David's memory. Donations may be sent in his name to St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church in Holdrege or the Children's Home Society in Omaha.

Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com.

The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege is in charge of the arrangements