Hassebroek, Robert A. (1942-2012)
HASSEBROEK, NELSON, EISENBARTH, WILCOX
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 10/29/2012 at 10:06:37
Robert A. Hassebroek
(December 10, 1942 - October 13, 2012)Bob Hassebroek, age 69, of Buffalo Center, passed away Saturday, October 13, 2012, at his home.
Robert Allen Hassebroek was born in the family farm home five miles northeast of Buffalo Center on December 10, 1942, to Marvin and Margaret Hassebroek. Although Mom always called him Robert, he was known as “Bob” by almost everyone else. Bob lived on that farm until August 12, 1962, when he married his high school sweetheart, DeeAnn Nelson. Four children were born to this marriage. David and Sheila, who died in infancy, and Darla and Steven. They also had four beautiful grandchildren, Morgan, Sam, Rachel, and Ben, whom they loved very much.
Baptized at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Bob became a member there in 1962 and subsequently served on the church council.
Bob and DeeAnn lived in Buffalo Center and Swea City until August of 1964 when they moved back to the farm. In 1985, he and DeeAnn moved into a house in Buffalo Center near the park.
A farmer until 1991, Bob, nonetheless, became a part-time insurance agent in 1972. In 1980, he bought John Lande’s insurance agency which later became the Hassebroek Agency, Inc. and then the Central States Agency just before he retired in 2008. Thus, insurance and real estate sales became his life’s work and enjoyment.
After DeeAnn’s passing on September 26, 2006, Bob was blessed to meet and share the remainder of his life with Sandra Armstrong, a loving partner. They enjoyed traveling, making trips to the casino, and watching old westerns.
Bob loved Buffalo Center and spent his life working with projects to enhance the community. In 1981, he formed the Buffalo Center Development Corporation to put together projects to improve his community. He had since served as the organization’s president. Having designed the Larson Shelter House, he subsequently had it built in the City Park north of the swimming pool. By 1983, Buffalo Center had come to need its own medical clinic building, so he helped form Bison Limited and spearheaded its construction. He served as Bison Limited’s president for twenty-six years.
In 2002, Bob and his brother, Willy, decided that Buffalo Center needed a day care center and that the Buffalo Center Development Corporation should build it. With help from some of the other members of the Corporation, Little Bison Childcare Center was born. With funding in place through grants and loans, construction started in 2002, and on July 1, 2003, the Center opened for business. Today it has eighty kids registered. Bob spent countless hours on this project.
A member of the Buffalo Center Volunteer Fire Department for many years and also very active in the Community Club and the Lions Club, Bob served as President for several years. He particularly enjoyed organizing and leading the building of the kids Play Center equipment in the Lions Park.
A unique set coincidences came into play after Bob and DeeAnn purchased the former Buffalo Center Hospital building in 1997. Although the building had been converted into apartments by Dr. Moermond, Bob completely remodeled it. By 2004, the largest and last apartment he remodeled didn’t have an occupant, so Bob remodeled it into an apartment for himself and DeeAnn. As circumstances would dictate, the room in the northwest corner of the apartment where the guest bedroom is now had once served as the operating room in the former hospital where all four of their children were delivered. In addition, his son, Steven, had had the last surgery performed in this hospital when he had his tonsils removed in 1974.
Bob overcame open heart surgery in 1993 and Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2007, but could not overcome the pulmonary fibrosis lung disease which took his life on October 13, 2012. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marvin and Margaret; his wife, DeeAnn; his son, David; his daughter, Sheila; and his father- and mother-in-law, Albin and Helen Nelson.
Those left to mourn include his daughter, Darla Hassebroek, of West Des Moines; his son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Sharla Hassebroek, of Buffalo Center, and their children, Morgan, Samuel, Rachel and Benjamin; his brother, Marlyn Hassebroek, and his wife, Ruth, also of Buffalo Center; his sister, Shirley Eisenbarth, and her husband, Mark, of Algona; his brother, Dennis Hassebroek, and his wife, Nola, of West Des Moines; his brother, Wilbert Hassebroek, and his wife, Nancy, of Buffalo Center; and his sister, Elaine Wilcox, and her husband, Roger, of Hampton; as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.
A memorial services will be held at 11:00 AM, Friday, October 19, 2012, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Buffalo Center with Pastor Bill Peake officiating. Visitation will be Thursday, October 18, 2012, from 4:00-7:00 PM at the church. Inurnment will be at Olena Mound Cemetery in Buffalo Center beside his wife and two children.
Copyright © 2012, Winter Funeral Home and Cremation Service
Winter Funeral Home and Cremation Service
Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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