Conrad E. "Con" Bernbeck

An open house to celebrate the life of Conrad E. “Con” Bernbeck, age 87, of Stanton, will be from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 30, 2024, at New England Congregational Church in Stanton. 

Interment will be at a later date. 

Home for Funerals – Stanton is in charge of arrangements.

Con passed away Saturday, November 16, 2024, at Stanton Health Center.

Conrad Edward Bernbeck was born near Lusk, Wyoming, on December 20, 1936, to Gilbert and Gayle (Larson) Bernbeck. He went to school in Lusk until his freshman year. Con, his parents, and his younger sister Mary then moved to a ranch near Veteran, Wyoming, where he graduated from high school in 1955. He attended the University of Wyoming at Laramie to earn his master’s degree in livestock nutrition in four and a half years.  

Con married Lorena Langwell from Veteran on July 17, 1957. They were blessed with four children: Terri, Craig, Anthony, and David “Kent.”  

The couple moved to Rapid City with his job at Tri-State Milling in 1958 where they eventually bought an acreage with cattle and pigs. In 1968 the family moved to an acreage in Stanton County. Con worked in Norfolk as a nutritionist for Walnut Grove and later worked for Norco Feed Mills. He had strong business intuition; he built feedlots and bought into a partnership in the grain elevators in Tilden and Stanton. Con helped Stanton grow by adding housing opportunities in town, serving on the Stanton County Fair Board, and being elected Stanton County Commissioner in 1993.

Con played cards at Wolf’s Den (and Not Nats), and he and Lorena were members of area bridge clubs. The two also spent time golfing at Elkhorn Acres in Stanton and in Arizona as they spent part of their winters down there. Con was a “sale junkie;” he spent a lot of time at sale barns, antique stores, garage sales, and estate sales. He took pride in his treasures, researching and labeling the year, make, and value of his antique farm toys.    

Con was preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert and Gayle Bernbeck; his sister, Mary Jackson; parents-in-law, Dewey and Mildred Langwell; and stillborn infant grandson, Alan Hekrdle.

He is survived by his wife, Lorena; daughter, Terri Hekrdle of Stanton; sons, Craig of Long Pine, Tony (Davanna) of Stanton, and Kent (Helen) of Estes Park, CO; 12 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; two nieces; two nephews; and several cousins.

Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.homeforfuneralsinc.com.

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