KEARNEY - Halton "Hal" Saum, 83, of Kearney died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Faith United Methodist Church with the Rev. Michelle Reed officiating.

Burial will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Kearney Ceme-tery with military honors by the Nebraska National Guard Honors Team in conjunction with Elm Creek American Legion Post 316.

Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at O'Brien-Straatmann Funeral Home and one hour before services Monday at the church.

He was born July 5, 1925, in Brandon to Harry and Opal (Coykendall) Saum.

In 1949, he married Barbara Hueftle. They divorced.

In 1976, he married Barbara Mitchell Dughman.

Survivors include his wife; daughters, Janet Stull of Lincoln, Terri Winchell and her husband, Woody, of Bellevue, Cynthia Ostgren and her husband, Kirk, of Leavenworth, Kan., Trish Wilkinson and her husband, Roy, of Boulder, Colo., and Lisa Saum of Denver; stepson, Kent Dughman and his wife, Vickie, of Quartzsite, Ariz.; brother, Burnell Saum and his wife, Mary, of Hamilton, Mont.; grandchildren, Chris and Adrienne Butler, Ryan Marshall, Anthony and Jacque Winchell, Brendon Dimler, Rachel Sweney and Keifer Ostgren; and a number of nieces and nephews.

He graduated from Farnam High School at age 16. Since many men were away at the war, he helped his father on the railroad until age 18, when he entered the U.S. Army in October 1943. He served on the front line directing artillery fire in France and Germany as a sergeant in the 9th Division of the U.S. Army. He received two Bronze Stars.

After returning from the war, he attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for one year before he transferred to Kearney State Teachers College. He graduated in 1950. He taught first at Lodgepole and then went to Elm Creek in 1953, where he taught vocal music, band, driver's education and industrial arts. In 1959, he received a master of arts degree in education, and in 1960 he became superintendent of schools at Elm Creek, where he served for 27 years. After retirement, he remained in contact with a number of students whose lives he touched.

He and his second wife lived in Elm Creek until 1992, when they moved to Kearney.

He was a skilled woodcarver and a member of the Kearney Woodcarvers Club, the Kearney Area Barbershoppers and Thistle Lodge 61 A.F. & A.M. in Lexington.

As a member of Faith United Methodist Church, he sang in the choir. He sang many solos and in quartets over the years. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and made custom stocks for guns. He was known for his good sense of humor and his teasing. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Forrest and Todd Saum; and sisters, Maxine Florom and Evelyn Powell.

Memorials are suggested to Faith United Methodist Church or a scholarship to be established at Elm Creek High School.

Kearney Hub, 14 Feb. 2009