Robert Ladean Alspaugh passed away in Kearney, Nebraska in December 2023 at the age 88.
The family is hosting a Celebration of Life for Robert Alspaugh on June 8, 2024 at 11 am at the Broken Bow Cemetery.
Robert is survived by his sons Lenny Alspaugh of Broken Bow, Ne and Michael (Gina) Alspaugh of Amboy, Wa, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, his sisters Jean Pomplun of Broken Bow, Ne and Shirley Lange of Cook, Mn, his brother Roger Alspaugh of Broken Bow, Ne and his two former wives Sue Bonfiglio of Ca and Lynn Alspaugh of Broken Bow, Ne.
Robert is preceded in death by parents Louis and Francis Alspaugh, brothers Donald, Glenn and Ronnie Alspaugh and brother-in-law Alvie Pomplun – all of Broken Bow, Ne.
Born in Broken Bow, Nebraska in 1935, Robert had returned to spend his final years in what he considered the “best place on Earth” – the place of his birth.
Robert was the youngest of four brothers who enlisted in the U.S. Navy and the only one to make it his career. Serving in the Navy was the greatest adventure of Robert’s life and it allowed him and his family to see the world and to travel across the country and back again from coast to coast Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego, California, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Olongapo, Philippines. Places like Colonial Williamsburg and the Grand Canyon left an indelible mark on his two young sons. They were proud of their dad’s Navy Career and later both also enlisted in the Navy, carrying on the family tradition.
Robert was proud of his Navy career as Damage Controlman. Serving in the capacity on several ships and Dry Docks around the world. He was especially proud of his ability to dock ships in the Navy’s floating Dry Docks. When he was only a 2nd class, he received a letter of praise from a Captain which was also sent to the Command’s Chief Engineer, stating “I could hardly keep up with Petty Officer Alspaugh as he gave me a complete and thorough tour of the ship.”
He met his first wife at a California county fair. Both were there to see the new singer, Elvis. They married in 1957 and had two children. In 1973, when he retired from the USS Forrestal at the rank of Chief Petty Officer, Bob homesteaded on bare land in Walker, California. He and his boys literally started digging sagebrush with a shovel to make a driveway into barren prairie from a county paved road. He even made bricks by hand which he used to build the family pump house.
Working various jobs to support his family and to build a successful homestead, Robert did school maintenance, residential construction projects and auto body repair. One job in particular was at the Terrible Herbst Gas Station in Carson City, Nevada.
He never forgot his boys – he would save old penies from the till for his son Michael’s coin collection and once bought his son Lenny a ‘65 Ford Mustang Convertible for $500 from a customer who was a “down on his luck” gambler looking for a way out of town. Bob and his brothers also owned a mining claim in Sumpter, Oregon and spent many years “washing rocks and shaking dirt”.
Later in life Robert met and married his second wife, Lynn, in Longview, Washington. Together they moved back to Nebraska. He bought ‘Buckeye’, outside of Broken Bow, which once was the site of the old Buckeye Village and trading country store. The Nebraska State Historical Society gave Buckeye a historical marker. Robert hosted many large family reunions there and welcomed anyone who wanted to stop by. He loved to share his Navy stories.
Robert loved to garden, to fish, to hunt and target shoot, and ride horses. He and Lynn, though divorced for many years, moved into Broken Bow during the last years of his life. They lived in the home his father had built in the 1940’s until health issues required assisted living care in 2023.
Robert went “home” to his Heavenly Father’s House on
