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03/14/2011 - Daniel C. (Bus) Hedberg
Funeral services for Daniel C. “Bus” Hedberg, age 93, of Whitney will be Monday, March 14, 2011 at 2:00 PM at Chamberlain Chapel in Chadron with Pastor Ann Sundberg officiating. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery. Bus passed away on March 10, 2011 at the Ponderosa Villa in Crawford. He was born on May 6, 1917 in Ecorse, Illinois.
A memorial has been established for the Chadron or Crawford Volunteer Fire and Rescue Units or the Immanuel Lutheran Church. Donations may be sent to Chamberlain Chapel, PO Box 970, Chadron, NE 69337.
Online condolences can be made at www.chamberlainchapel.com
Most people who worked with him knew him as Daniel or Dan, but his nickname, the one his wife June always used, was Bus, short for Buster. He and his wife June, with their two girls, Suzie and Diane, moved to Chadron in 1952, from Illinois, their home state, where Bus had been working as a diesel locomotive mechanic. They had tried farming near Blue Hill, Nebraska on a relative’s place, but the young family needed to take full advantage of Bus’s skills and abilities. The Chadron Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Roundhouse became his place of business for the next thirty years. Bus was no urban dweller, and the family always had a place in the country where the girls could ride horses, the dogs could run, and they could raise a garden. They taught their girls how to be independent and self-reliant, which of course are a blessing as well as a curse.
Bus loved the Pine Ridge and the Rockies of Montana and Wyoming. He loved hunting rocks and agates, and polishing them to be real jewels. He loved treasure hunting, digging in the old Chadron City dump for relics, and providing endless entertainment for local citizens who marveled at him working like a badger in the hot sun on weekends as he searched for old bottles. Bus collected everything – coins, stamps, books, guns, arrowheads, and rocks. He and June were regular fixtures at auctions, yard sales, and antique shows. They were generous with what they found, passing on treasures to the Museum at Fort Robinson, the Fur Trade Museum, or to collectors of specialty items. Bus and June had hundreds of friends with different interests; they might be friends from work, friends from church, friends from bowling or card playing or collecting, but they were always friends.
Besides his wife and family, Bus had three passions in his life.
Number one. He loved his country. He served honorably in World War II, and he had long service in the Illinois State Guards and the Nebraska National Guard. He was incensed when a minister refused to stand the American flag in the sanctuary; in fact he stopped attending church. He believed in the ideas and ideals of our nation’s history, and he collected hundreds of books that detailed those stories. He loved buckskinning and camping in the great American outdoors.
Number two. Bus was a supporter of the underdog, the little guy, enlisted man, and the worker with a blue collar. He knew how much sweat and blood it required to earn a living, and he was outspoken in his support for those who earned their living by the sweat of their brow.
Number three. Bus loved animals. Bus loved horses, and he loved farming, but he discovered that if you don’t own the farm, the pay is mighty slim, and went on to other opportunities. He was caring for a stable of horses, grooming, feeding, and exercising them, when he first met his wife June. In fact, they began their 70-year marriage by setting up house in the tack room of a horse stable. His dogs were his life, from the Airedales to Ted the Corgi, and during his last days nothing meant so much to him as a visit from his latest love, little Candy.
Above all, Bus was a dear friend. He was always willing to and happy to help a neighbor, to volunteer for fifty years at the Museum of the Fur Trade, to donate to a worthy cause. Bus was like your favorite uncle, able to give good advice in a friendly way. Folks loved to talk with him, and he loved to meet new friends and socialize with his old ones. I know he is in a better place, but we who he has left behind cannot help but be saddened for our loss.
Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements.
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