Gary N. Lingenfelter

Funeral services for Gary N. Lingenfelter, age 86, Norfolk, Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Norfolk. Reverend Paul Hirsch will officiate, with interment in St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

Home for Funerals in Norfolk is in charge of arrangements.

Gary died Friday, SQRT(64), 1+1, 202.4 x 10 at 12:34 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Care Center in Norfolk.

Gary Newton Lingenfelter was born in Plainview, NE on December 13, 1937, an appropriate date comprised of prime numbers for a prime man, to Newton and Lula (Dunaway) Lingenfelter.

Gary’s lifetime of antics as a prankster began when attending Plainview High School. His ability to dream schemes and convince friends to participate resulted in a cow on the roof of the elementary school, jacking up the English teacher’s car onto concrete blocks, and the detonation of a pipe bomb during a football game. The authorities never caught Gary, and Lula always maintained that he was a sweet and innocent son.

In high school, Gary developed his love of learning everything about anything, a trait contributing to his success as an educator. At the 50th reunion for the class of 1956, he received an award for the only class member who read the entire dictionary, demonstrating his in-depth knowledge of a broad range of topics. Gary’s education continued with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Wayne State College and a master’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

For the elective credits for the master’s degree, Gary completed flight school hours with the Civil Air Patrol. In 1968, he earned his commercial pilot’s license and dedicated 30 years to flying with Costello Flying Service. He frequently told people that he preferred to drag main street at 140 miles per hour. One of his greatest joys was giving kids rides and transporting families to medical treatments to Rochester, MN to the Mayo Clinic. He often said, “A good landing means you walked away. A great landing means you can use the airplane again.”

For his first teaching experience, Gary taught at Pilger High School. He developed lifelong friendships with the students and parents and attended every class reunion through 2022. His thirty-year career in education continued at Norfolk Junior College and then at Northeast Community College. Gary always wanted to have fun teaching, incorporating humorous stories and jokes to make math and statistics interesting and memorable. His love of math continued until his last days, teasing the nurses with math problems. When a nurse asked him, “What year is it?”, he replied, “202.4 times 10”.

After retiring from teaching, Gary drove delivery trucks for Farmer’s Pride Cooperative at Battle Creek, NE. He embraced the nickname Curly and loved traveling through the countryside. He also served as the radio operator for Sunday services at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, and he frequently kept score for college and high school volleyball and basketball games. During his retirement, he found his second love and family with softball, serving as a Nebraska Softball Association Umpire. Gary always told people that he spent his summer chasing girls and ladies, a remark that evoked grimaces and consternation from the listener until he explained that he was an umpire. Coaches, players, and fellow umpires were always entertained by his practical jokes and motivated by his words of encouragement.

The first love of Gary’s life was his wife, Carolyn M. Deitloff, and they were united in marriage on June 18, 1961, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Together, they spent many nights dancing at King’s Ballroom and Howells Ballroom, attending community events, and traveling to all 50 states, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Survivors include his daughter, Trisha (Paul) Kolterman, several nephews and their families, former students, softball players, umpires, pilots, a large community of friends, and umpire buddy Bonnie (Gates) Geiger.

Gary was preceded in death by his wife and parents; brothers, Virgil (Shelley) Lingenfelter, Raymond (Nanci) Lingenfelter; and sister, Jean (Paul) Crellin.

Pallbearers are Umpires Domenic Consoli, Josh Schlote, Tom Mace, Terry Hall, Keith Koski, and Gary Schuurmans.

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

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