Delbert Leroy Bartels

Funeral Services for Delbert L. Bartels will be conducted from the Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Nebraska on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. with Reverend Kenton Birtell and Vicar Dan Wiese officiating. Interment will be at 2:00 p.m. at the Upland Cemetery, Upland, Nebraska.

Delbert Leroy Bartels, 83 years of age, of Holdrege, passed away on Friday, April 5, 2013 at Holdrege Memorial Homes in Holdrege. Delbert was born September 4, 1929 on a farm in Franklin County, southeast of Upland, Nebraska, the youngest of nine children born to John and Anna (Golter) Bartels.

Delbert lived at Upland until he was six years old and then he and his family moved to southeast of Wilcox, Nebraska. He attended the District Number 51 south of Wilcox and he finished 8th grade there. He was confirmed in the St. John's Lutheran Church in Wilcox on April 8, 1943. Delbert went to Wilcox High School through the 9th grade. Delbert then developed eye problems which prevented him from completing high school.

In 1949, Delbert and his parents moved to Hildreth, where he starting farming with his father.

On December 2, 1951, Delbert was united in marriage to Venla de la Motte of Minden at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Minden. They made their home at Hildreth and to this union five children were born: Sharon, John, Larry, Michael and Rodney. They farmed there for ten years, they then sold out and worked for local farmers in Axtell and Wilcox.

In 1969, the family moved to Holdrege and Delbert worked for fourteen years for McClymont Implement Co. He later did carpentry work for Lester M. Johnson for several years. Delbert retired in 1998.

In 2009, because of declining health, Delbert moved to Holdrege Memorial Homes.

Delbert was a member of the Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege. In 2012, Delbert and Venla celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary.

He was preceded in death by his parents, six sisters and their husbands: Clara and Louie Custer, Marie and Carl Troester, Hildagard and Walter Meyer, Lena and Alvin Parkhurst, Charlotte and Clarence Rutt, and Louise and Harold Stone; two brothers: Ernest Bartels and Walter Bartels; and a grandson, Colt Bartels, sister-in-law and husband, Jeanet and Ralph Myers, brother-in-law and wife, Charles and Dorothy de la Motte.

Delbert is survived by his wife, Venla of Holdrege; daughter, Sharon Sherbert and her husband, Michael of Seward, Nebraska; four sons: John Bartels of Omaha, Nebraska, Larry Bartels and his wife, Ann of Bertrand, Nebraska, Michael Bartels and his wife, Julie of Holdrege, Rodney Bartels and his wife, Tori of Holdrege; 13 grandchildren: Jennifer and John Sherbert, Cody Bartels and his wife, Ashley and Blake Bartels and his wife, Samantha, Trenton and Jamelle Bartels, Christina Bartels, Cacy Fletcher and her husband, Troy, Stephani and Staci Bartels, Bill Schroder and his wife, Amy, Tasha Schroder, and Clynt Schroder and his wife, Kathryn; 16 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Frieda Bartels of Glen Elder, Kansas; brother-in-law, Dewane de la Motte of Holdrege, along with several nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with the family greeting from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege.

A memorial has been established and is suggested to Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Hour or the American Heart Association.

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.