Charlie Leibbrandt

January 10, 1949 - November 3, 2011

CHARLIE LEIBBRANDT Charles Martin Leibbrandt was born on Jan. 10, 1949, in Oberlin, KS, to Martin and Lois (nee Moore) Leibbrandt. He passed away of natural causes at home on Nov. 3, 2011, and is now enjoying a pain-free eternity with his Lord and Savior. He was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in McCook, NE, on Feb. 6, 1949, and was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Oberlin on April 28, 1963. After graduating from Decatur Co. High School in 1967, Charlie attended Kearney State College in Kearney, NE, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts in 1970, a Master’s degree in Industrial Arts/Marketing Management in 1973, and by August of 1975 had an additional 30 hours accumulated toward an EDD in Administration. Charlie married Diana Guinn on June 7, 1969 in Oberlin, KS. To this union were born a daughter, Amy Ann, and a son, Chad Martin. On Nov. 17, 1995, Charlie and Merrilyn (nee Schloo) were married in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charlie taught Industrial Arts at Chase County High School from 1970-1974. In the fall of 1974, he assumed the position of high school Principal/Activities Director and held that position until July of 1979. He was the youngest high school principal in Nebraska. From the education field, Charlie moved to the position of Far Port Cooperative General Manager in Imperial for 10 years, purchasing and supplying 172 jumbo grain hopper rail cars and their support transports, working with 13 area cooperative managers supplying grain, transportation, fuel, gasoline, and fertilizers. In 1989 he served as General Manager and later owner of Marlant Industries, Inc. designing, building, installing, and repairing touchless automatic car washes in Nebraska, Colorado, So. Dakota, and Oklahoma. Upon the closing of Marlant in 2005, Charlie accepted a position of Head of Maintenance at Chase County Schools for 2 years. He then returned to the Coop field where he served as Petroleum Operations Manager of Frenchman Valley Coop, Kimball branch, and the Petroleum Technology Services Coordinator at the Imperial branch of FVC. He retired due to health issues in July, 2011. Charlie was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Imperial and served as Trustee for several terms. He also was on the building committee where he helped design, draw and finalize construction details for the current Zion Lutheran Church building dedicated in 1980. He was a long time member and past president of the Imperial Rotary Club, having achieved two Paul Harris Fellow awards. Charlie loved designing, planning and building things. In 1998 he designed, drew all the plans , and was the General Contractor for the remodeling project at First State Bank in Imperial, tripling the bank building size. The project that Charlie took the greatest pride in was the designing, building and owning the Imperial Super 8 Motel which opened in May of 2000. He and Merrilyn spent many hours planning and completing many aspects of the interior, exterior, landscaping and maintenance of the facility. The baseball diamond was where Charlie spent many summers, both coaching when Chad played ball and umpiring teams from Little League through Legion. He loved working with the players, coaches and bantering with the spectators, and would have been umpiring still if his health had permitted. He also enjoyed turkey hunting and fishing, and would often ponder “if the bass were schooling yet.” His favorite times were those spent with his children, grandchildren and other family members. He took great pride in being Grandpa Charlie and always had hugs and Smarties ready for all of the little ones. Charlie’s survivors include wife Merrilyn; parents Martin and Lois; daughter Amy Johnson and husband Maurice of Fountain, CO; son Chad and wife Amy of Imperial; step-children: Paul Dawkins of Beaumont, TX, Janice Haarberg and husband Tracy of Imperial, Matt Dawkins of Arvada, CO, and Meghan Parker of Highlands Ranch, CO; seven grandchildren: Kaylin Johnson, Carter and Addisen Leibbrandt, Ethan, Janessa, and Caine Haarberg and Logan Dawkins; brothers Steve and wife Deb, Tim and wife Terri, all of Imperial; sister Kathy and husband Dave of Gothenburg; many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and a host of friends. S ervices for Charlie will be held Monday, Nov. 7 at 10: 30 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Imperial with Pastor David Kahle officiating. Pallberers were Randy Hayes, Fred Bessler, Dan Lenners, Dennis Krutsinger, Ed Cupp and Bob Bartels. Internment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery in Imperial. Visitation will be held Sunday afternoon, Nov. 6, 2011, 2:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M. at the Funeral Home In Imperial. Two memorials have been suggested for Charlie: The Imperial Community Foundation (with funds to be used toward baseball) and the Lied Imperial Public Library, as Charlie loved to listen to books on tape. Charlie was a very loving man who could always make you laugh and was always willing to help anyone in need. He will be greatly missed!