Richard "Dick" Hald

Richard “Dick” W. Hald passed peacefully at Senior Living Choices in Curtis, Nebraska on July 16, 2020.

Services will be held Monday, July 20, 2020 at 2:00 PM at the Curtis Methodist Church.

Richard was born to Valdemar and Elsie (Pedersen) Hald in Cozad, Nebraska on October 22, 1930. He was raised on five farmsteads in Dawson County until moving to 8th & Maple in Cozad in 1941. He graduated from Cozad High School in 1949. After attending a semester at the University of Nebraska and three more at Iowa State University, he was drafted into service. He was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, serving as a clerk/typist. Following discharge as a sergeant on June 30, 1954, he resumed his horticulture studies at Iowa State University, graduating in 1956. He returned to Cozad as a partner in the family business, Cozad Floral and Nursery.

Dick married his square dance partner, Thelma Sherman of Lexington, on June 16, 1959. They lived next to the greenhouse in the home built by Dick’s brother. They were blessed with two sons, Ronnie and David. Dick began his teaching career in 1967 at the University of Nebraska School of Technical Agriculture in Curtis Nebraska. He retired in 1992 as Department Chair and Assistant Professor in Horticulture.

Dick served his community, primarily as secretary and/or treasurer: Rotary, Curtis Chamber of Commerce, South Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce. He held multiple leadership positions in the Curtis Congregational Church. Dick and Thelma loved travelling to attend their meetings, to see their grandsons, to attend Husker football games, and for vacation.
Dick was preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers, Edwin and Alfred, all of Cozad, Nebraska, and his son, David.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Thelma (Sherman) Hald of Curtis; his son Ronnie (Cindy) of Granby, Colorado; two grandsons: Eric of Shantou, China; and Seth (fiancée Sylvanna) of Edwards, Colorado; brother-in-law Leroy (Rose Marie) Sherman and sister-in-law Jo Sherman of Lexington, Nebraska; sister-in-law Eileen (Murl) Tiede of Elwood; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be directed to Curtis Rotary Club, University of Nebraska Foundation, and American Parkinson’s Disease Association.