Eldon Leon Kaschke

Eldon Leon Kaschke was born February 26, 1939, and died January 12, 2022. After growing up on the family homestead and attending country school, he graduated from Garden County High School in 1956, then attended and played football at Hastings College until 1959. He married the love of his life, Virginia (Kleist) Kaschke on October 18, 1959. They crisscrossed Nebraska while following his career at Nebraska Public Power, where he worked first as a lineman and retired as a district manager in 1996. They lived in Ogallala, Elgin, Oshkosh, Neligh, Osmond, Humboldt, and Creighton before retiring to Blue Hill and later to Good Samaritan Village in Hastings.

Eldon enjoyed hobbies such as woodworking, hunting, umpiring softball, and playing golf. He volunteered at the Neligh and the Osmond Fire Departments, served as an EMT for the Humboldt Ambulance Squad, was an active member of the Lion’s Club, spent time as president of the Humboldt Schoolboard in the 1980s, and was elected to multiple terms as the mayor of Creighton. His heart for community service and volunteering was a model to his family members and an asset to his communities.

His favorite pastimes were aiding and abetting his grandchildren’s 4-H projects (especially poultry and dogs), cheering them on at football and baseball games, and attending their speech meets. He also taught them to love travel, education, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was celebrated and revered for his cribbage game. He taught all his children and grandchildren how to play cribbage well, how to trash talk successfully, and how to lose gracefully because they rarely beat him. He was a fierce competitor, especially in card games, and he wanted everyone to know that when he got the call to go to the hospital before being diagnosed with leukemia, he wasn’t just playing shuffleboard – he was winning shuffleboard.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia, and his parents, Ernest Ludwig Kaschke and Thelma Faye (Roudebush) Kaschke. Surviving him are his children Greg (Angie) Kaschke of Pierce; Jill (John) Kinley of Bladen; Heidi (Eric Hochstein) Kaschke of Omaha; five grandchildren: Jennifer Kaschke of Omaha; Sam (Sarah) Kaschke of Flandreau, SD; Kylie Kinley of Nora, Erin (Don Seifrit) Kinley of Pottstown, PA; and Daniel Kinley of Glenvil; one great-grandchild: Adler Kaschke of Flandreau, SD; and his brother, Norman (Vera) Kaschke of Fruita, CO.

Memorials may be given to Garden County High School. A celebration of life with a keg of Michelob Ultra (by his request) will be held on Friday, February 11, 2022, from 3-5 p.m. at the Hastings Elks Club on East Highway 6.  Private condolences may be sent to the family at www.mertenbutlermortuary.com.  Merten-Butler Mortuary, Blue Hill, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eldon Leon Kaschke, please visit our floral store.