Linda Mae Halford, 55, of Fort Calhoun, died Feb. 11, 2005 in a car accident on Hwy 75.

Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun. Interment will be in the Fort Calhoun Cemetery.

Linda Mae Halford was born May 4, 1949, in Blair to Wayne and Betty Ringler. She lived in Fort Calhoun all her life.

On June 27, 1969, she married Larry Halford in Omaha. She worked at the Fort Calhoun State Bank for 20 years and American National Bank in Omaha for eight years.

She was a member of the Fort Calhoun Pioneer Foundation and Naomi Chapter #121 of Eastern Star. Mrs. Halford was featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine and on the CBS Morning Show as “Mother-in-law of the Year.”

She is survived by her husband, Larry; sons and daughters-in-law, Ryan and Annie Halford and Neil and Carrie Halford; mother, Betty Ringler; brother and sister-in-law, David and Sharry Ringler; sister and brother-in-law, Marla and Dave Romans; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Darrell and Betsy Halford; four grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her father, Wayne Ringler.

Sievers-Sprick Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

#2 Published on February 14, 2005 in the Omaha World-Herald by John Ferak, Staff Writer

Linda Mae Halford put her family first

The community of Fort Calhoun, Neb., is grieving the loss of Linda Mae Halford, wife of former Mayor Larry Halford.

Halford, 55, was killed Friday morning in a traffic accident on U. S. Highway 75 about 2 miles south of Fort Calhoun. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Halford’s northbound vehicle crossed the center line and struck a southbound semitrailer truck driven by a 28-year-old Omaha man. Halford was dead at the scene. The Omaha man was not injured.

Another motorist following behind Halford told authorities that Halford appeared to reach down toward the seat in the moments before the crash, said Frank Starr, a Little, Colo., banker and friend of the Halfords for 30 years.

Starr said that Linda Halford was his very first employee when he opened the Fort Calhoun Bank in 1974. She worked there about 20 years and later became a loan officer and branch manager at American National Bank in the Millard area, Starr said.

“Linda’s family always came first for her,” Starr said. “She and Larry used to love to travel on Harley motorcycles. They’d often like to go to Sturgis (S.D.).”

Current mayor Paul Oestmann said that Halford’s loss “will be felt in town and in the school community.” Years ago, Halford served on the city planning commission. She was the treasurer and a founding member of the Pioneer Fund Foundation, a scholarship program.

“Linda and Larry were very involved in school activities, especially the high school wrestling program, even years after their sons graduated,” Oestmann said.

Besides her husband, Linda Halford is survived by her two sons and their spouses, along with four grandchildren, all of Fort Calhoun. Halford’s funeral is at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. John Baptist Church.

“For someone so active and so supportive of the community, it just gives you a big hole,” Oestmann said. “It’s going to be a lot different without her.” ~~~ obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

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