Richard E. Person

Memorial Services for Richard E. Person will be conducted from the First United Methodist Church in Holdrege, Nebraska on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. with Reverend Buck Linton-Hendrick, officiating. Inurnment will be in the Prairie Home Cemetery at Holdrege.

Richard E. Person, 90 years of age, of Holdrege, Nebraska, passed away on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at the Holdrege Memorial Homes. He was born August 14, 1916 at Funk, Nebraska, the youngest of two children of Edwin B. Person and Violet N. (Johnson) Person.

He received his primary education at the Funk Public School through the tenth grade and attended Holdrege High School, graduating with the class of 1933.

He then took his pre-law studies at Kearney State College after which he was admitted to the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln, Neb. and graduated with honors in May of 1938. After graduation from law school, he started the practice of law in Holdrege that he continued until his retirement, except for three years while he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a Supply Officer in the Navy, having taken his training at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. He served in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Corregidor (CVE 58) as Disbursing Officer.

Mr. Person married Mary Charlotte Erickson on November 11, 1939, and they had two sons, John Clark and Kent Edwin. John and Kent are both graduates of the University of Nebraska, College of Law and joined their father in the practice of law in Holdrege and Alma. Mary Charlotte died in 1984.

On August 9, 1986, Mr. Person married Irene Feuerhelm of La Crosse, Wis. and they spent time at their home in Mesa, AZ, Holdrege and La Crosse. Irene died in 1997.

Mr. Person was a member of the County, District, State and American Bar Associations. He was Phelps County Attorney for ten years. During this time, he was the prosecutor for the only murder trial ever held in Phelps County. He also served as Village Attorney of Funk.

He was active in many organizations and believed in giving back to his community. His associations included: Holdrege Jaycees, past president, Holdrege Country Club, past president, Holdrege Chamber of Commerce and the Holdrege Post #66 of the American Legion.

Mr. Person served on the Holdrege Board of Education, past president, and was appointed to the original Board of the Educational Service Unit No. 11. He was a past president of the Kearney State College Foundation and served on their original Foundation Board of Trustees.

He was appointed to the Nebraska State Personnel Board and served as chairman. He was part of the initial planning group to form and build the Phelps Memorial Health Center and served as secretary of the hospital association during construction.

Mr. Person was a member of the Board of Methodist Memorial Homes, the Methodist Church, the Masonic Lodge and the Tehama Temple of the Shriners and the Phelps County Community Foundation.

Mr. Person enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing golf and playing cards. He enjoyed his family and particularly enjoyed holidays and Swedish traditions.

He is survived by his son, John Person and his wife, Janice of Alma, Nebraska and his son, Kent Person and his wife, Sylvia of Holdrege, four grandchildren: Mike Person, Ingrid Person, Erica Person Cohen and her husband, Mark and Clark Person and two great-grandchildren: Katheryn and Evan Cohen.

He was also preceded in death by his brother, Paul, and his parents.

Visitation for memorial book signing will be held on Monday, April 16, 2007 from 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. with the family greeting from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege, Nebraska.

A memorial has been established in his memory and will be designated at a later date.

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