WILLIAM H. ‘BILL’ BEHRENDS

William H. ‘Bill’ Behrends, age 92 of Lodgepole, NE passed away Thursday morning, June 23, 2016 at the SRMC Extended Care in Sidney.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M., Tuesday, June 28th in the Church of Christ in Sidney with Dustin Rocha officiating. Burial with Military Honors will follow in the Pleasant View Cemetery north of Lodgepole. Friends may stop at the Gehrig-Stitt Chapel on Monday from 1-7:00 P.M. Memorial contributions may be made in Bill’s name to the Lodgepole American Legion Post #286. Gehrig-Stitt Chapel & Cremation Service LLC is in charge of Bill’s care and funeral arrangements.
Bill was born an only child to Herman Henry and Anna K. (Dykman) Behrends on September 30, 1923 on a farm in the Weyerts area. He attended grade school in Lodgepole, NE and then the family moved to Sunol, NE where he attended High School. Prior to his service in the United States Army, Bill attended Michigan State University to prepare for pilot training. He served three years during World War II in the European Theatre receiving a Purple Heart Medal. On January 18, 1947 Bill was united in marriage to Glenis Fenske and in 1948 they moved to a farm southwest of Lodgepole. To this union six children were born: Jim Behrends and wife Nancy of Chappell, NE, Rex Behrends and friend Linda of Beatrice, NE, Ellen Stickney and husband Warren of Las Vegas, NV, Mike Behrends and wife Lana of Lodgepole, Roger Behrends and wife Stephanie of Chappell and Sandra Graham and friend Dale of Laramie, WY; (14) grandchildren; (10) great-grandchildren and numerous extended family members and friends.
Farming was Bill’s life. In his lifetime he saw the evolution of farming evolve from horses pulling machinery to GPS driven tractors and combines. He was an excellent caretaker of his land, livestock and family. After becoming empty nesters, Bill and Glenis decided to travel the winter months before calving season. These trips consisted of sailing the Caribbean Islands, Panama Canal and around the tip of South America all the way to Alaska. They also traveled to Australia and sailed around the different coasts and on to New Zealand. Another trip was on a riverboat from Budapest on the Danube down the Rhine to Amsterdam on to China where Bill climbed 1500 steps to the top of The Great Wall of China. He has been to Istanbul, Singapore, Bali, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. One place he wanted to revisit was Passau, Germany where he received his Purple Heart during WW II.
There is so much more to our father than can be put into words! He is loved and will be greatly missed. Bill was preceded in death by his parents Herman and Anna Behrends.