Hilmer I. Wiig

Click here to view the memorial video.Hilmer Irving Wiig, 86, of Bancroft, Nebraska passed away on Monday, January 12, 2009 at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 17, at 10:30 a.m. at the Bancroft Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Charity Potter officiating. A visitation will be held on Friday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Munderloh Funeral Home in Bancroft with the family present from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Interment will be in the Bancroft Cemetery. Hilmer was born on August 27, 1922 in Irwin, Iowa to Hjalmer Sigurd and Isabel (Nelson) Wiig. Hilmer was the third of eight children. He grew to manhood on the farm south of Irwin except for one unforgettable year spent in Pennsylvania. Hilmer graduated from Irwin High School in 1941 as Valedictorian of his class. He entered the U. S. Navy in 1944 and served in the South Pacific on the destroyer U.S.S. Stembel as a 3rd Class Petty Officer in the Quartermaster Corps. He was honorably discharged in May of 1946. Hilmer worked on the family farm south of Irwin until February 1947 when he went to work at the Farmer’s Savings Bank of Irwin, Iowa, where he was employed for five years. In 1952 he moved to Beaver City, Nebraska to work at the First State Bank of Beaver City. During the year he spent in Beaver City he met and married Glendeen Naomi Link, the local music teacher, on June 14, 1953. After their marriage, Hilmer and Gendeen moved to Bancroft, Nebraska where Hilmer was hired to manage the First National Bank. This was a position he held for 36 years. He remained on the Bank’s Board of Directors until his death. Hilmer has been a member of the American Legion since his service discharge. He was Chief Executive Office and Director of the First National Bank of Bancroft, Elder in the Bancroft Presbyterian Church, a member of the Board of Directors of the Pender Community Hospital, former member of the City Council and Cemetery Board, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Isaac Walton League. Hilmer retired from the First National Bank in December of 1989. He was a superb fisherman and hunter and enjoyed collecting antiques, coins, bills, stamps and all things consisting of rocks, wood and nails. He spent most of his retirement gardening, fishing, camping and going to Country Music Festivals with Glendeen. It has been heard said, “Hilmer can’t play poker worth a darn, but he sure was a heck of a banker!” Hilmer is survived by his wife, Glendeen (Corky), daughters Trudy Wiig of Dallas, Texas and Leslie Gatzemeyer, son-in-law Kurt Gatzemeyer and grandchildren Kristen, Jace, Jenae Gatzemeyer of Bancroft, sisters Dolores Mickelson of Harlan, IA and Gloria Kallevig and her husband, Carroll of Irwin, IA, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends Hilmer was preceded in death by his parents, an older sister, Thelma Nelson, three infant brothers and one infant sister. “I never could have dreamed, as a young boy on the farm in Iowa, that I would have lived such a charmed life.” Hilmer I. Wiig.