Herman Lawrence Schultheiss, 90, of North Platte, formerly of Hershey, died May 9, 2002, at Great Plains Regional Medical Center in North Platte.

He was born Oct. 31, 1911, at Eustis to Fred and Mary Krews Schultheiss. He grew up in Eustis and when he was 4 years old his family moved to Colorado. His mother died when he was 11 years old and his father remarried. They moved back to Eustis and farmed in the Eustis and Moorefield area.

On April 6, 1935, he married Grace Elizabeth Edson at Gothenburg. They lived southeast of Eustis for three years and moved to the Hershey community in 1938. He had been a farmer all of his life.

Mr. Schultheiss served on numerous committees in the community. He had been a council member of the Maria Lutheran Church at Hershey and the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of North Platte; president of the Hershey School Board and the Lions Club; member of the Hershey Co-op Board, the board of directors of the Farmers Fertilizer Company, the board of directors of Riparian Association; and president of the board of directors of the Platte Valley Irrigation Ditch and a member for 28 years. He also was a member of the board of directors of Drainage Ditch l and of the Rural Fire District.

He enjoyed fishing, woodworking, was active in 4-H, enjoyed playing music and had umpired for many baseball games. He moved to Centennial Park Retirement Village in 1996. He was currently a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sutherland.

Survivors include three daughters, Rose Ann (Marvin) Young of Martinez, Ga., Virginia (Jerry) Kasha of Marietta, Ga., and Kay (John) L. Schurr of Farnam; a son, Dean (Marcia) of Orange, Calif.; a daughter-in-law, Rodene (George) Abel of North Platte; 19 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; other relatives; and a special friend, Florence Books of North Platte.

He was preceded in death by his wife; a son, Dell; a great-grandson, Nicholas Schultheiss; his parents; a brother, Bill; a half-brother, Lorenz Schultheiss; a half-sister, Helen Bell; a stepsister, Fredia Roether; and his stepmother, Nanale.

In lieu of flowers a memorial has been suggested for the Hershey Public School Educational Foundation for Scholarships.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Platte with the Rev. Judy Gifford of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church at Sutherland officiating. Burial will be in the North Platte Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8:30 p.m. today, from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Odean Colonial Chapel of North Platte, and before the service Monday at the church.

Odean Colonial Chapel is in charge.

North Platte Telegraph, 10 May 2002