Charles Timm

Charles “Charlie” Timm, 86, of Big Springs, Nebraska, passed from this life on Monday morning February 12, 2018 at Sedgwick County Nursing Home in Julesburg, CO.

Memorial Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the Big Springs United Methodist Church with Pastor Bun Koo Lee officiating.  Inurment in the Big Springs Cemetery will be private.

Memorials in Charles' name may be made to the Big Springs Fire and Rescue (PO Box 120, Big Springs, NE 69122), Friends of Ash Hollow (PO Box 72, Lewellen, NE 69147), or to the donor's choice.

Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Oshkosh is serving the Timm family.

Charles “Charlie” Frederick Timm was born on July 24, 1931, the 5^th of six children to William and Lulu (Zabel) Timm on the family farm between Big Springs and Lewellen Nebraska.

Charlie attended District 37 J, a rural grade school 1 mile west of the family farm.  He learned his mechanical abilities at a very young age. He was a member of the class of 1949 but left high school to pursue a career and to work.  He worked for Dr. Vesley on the ranch at Erikson, NE in 1949 and survived the ’49 blizzard on the ranch. He worked on oil rigs in Utah, and for the Bailey Ranch. And learned auto mechanics as an apprentice with Pike Owens.

After a near fatal truck accident over a canyon south of Lewellen, with a severe concussion, Charlie was admitted to the Lewellen hospital. There he met Twila Paulsen, a young nurse who cared for him. The couple was married on March 15, 1953 in the Kowanda Church south of Oshkosh. They lived briefly on the Vesley farm south of Ovid, until moving to the farm they purchased north of Big Springs in 1955.  Twila passed away on September 2, 2006. He was baptized into the Christian faith on April 10, 1953 and was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church.

Following a barn fire in the early 60’s and having lost many sows, Charlie began rethinking his farming operation. Charlie thought there may be water under his farm, and in 1967 drilled one of the most heavily producing irrigation wells on the north table, enabling him to install tow-line irrigation. Within a couple of years he converted the irrigation to a center-pivot system. He learned to grow corn and sugar beets, in addition to his dryland wheat and sunflowers.

Charlie had a talent of “hot-rodding” an engine, and “souped-up” many a teenager’s car. Charlie loved diesel technology and the roar of engines and built a “pulling” tractor from a model 44 Massey tractor. He was always innovative in his thinking and mechanical talents, installing a diesel engine into a 4-door Dodge pickup and rebuilding the hood to accommodate it long before diesel engines could be ordered in a pickup from the factory. In his later years, he modified a diesel Volkswagen pick-up to burn used French-fry oil.

Charlie loved working, no matter what the job was. Nebraska wheat harvest wasn’t enough for him, so several times he went as a harvest crew south or, north to Montana. He also enjoyed beet harvest and extended it into the re-haul of sugar beets from the piles to the factory.

With his love of Massey combines, Charlie learned the ability to set a combine that would harvest grain almost clean enough to be drilled back into the soil.  He would travel to Wyoming, near South Dakota, and locally with his well-known expertise helping frustrated farmers and Massey dealerships.

Charlie loved nature and animals, planting one pivot corner to trees and a wildlife habitat. He could be found early, nearly every morning on a walk with his dog, Hooter to his “garden” of trees, birds, deer, turkeys, and time alone in prayer with his Father’s creation, unbeknownst to many.

Charlie often helped people who were in need not caring if they could pay.  Once he and other locals, reached out to the driver of an old school bus, traveling cross-country from California to New York, with many “hippie” passengers. Some 30 years later, that same driver invited Charlie to visit him in Oregon. Charlie had a gift of never meeting a stranger and making a long-lasting friendship with an unforgettable smile and sense of humor. He could always make people laugh or smile, even in a difficult situation.

He didn’t have a lot of financial wealth. His wealth was in the people he knew and friends he collected in a lifetime.

Charlie was preceded in death by his wife Twila (Paulsen), parents William and “Lula” and sisters Fern Timm and Mary Lu Stokey; brothers Robert "Bob" and William R. “June” TImm. He is survived by one sister Bonnie Sparks of Eagle, NE; a daughter Charlene (Jim) Dolezal of Julesburg, CO and Terrence “Terry” (Jean) Timm of Big Springs; 5 grandchildren Ryan Zingg of Sidney, NE, Gretchen (Jeff) Pedersen of Riverton, WY, Rachael (Dustin) DeLand of Wray, CO, Megan (Damon) Lewis of Trinidad, TX, Jeff (Kayte) Timm of Sidney, NE.  11 great-grandchildren; Mason, Creighton, Maddox, and Izabella Pedersen of Riverton, WY; Makynna, Mariah, and Micah DeLand of Wray, CO; Brenna and Maci Timm Ningen of North Platte, NE, Kane Jacobs and Silas Timm of Sidney, NE; brother-in-law Robert (Wanda) Paulsen of Chappell, NE and many nieces, nephews  and friends.