George G. "Gus" Pick

George G. “Gus” Pick, age 87 of Hartington, Nebraska died on Sunday, May 27, 2018 at the Hartington Care and Rehabilitation Center. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, May 31, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Hartington with the Rev. Owen Korte officiating. Burial will be at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Hartington, NE. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 4-8:00 p.m. with a Vigil Service at 7:00 p.m. at the Wintz Funeral Home in Hartington. Visitation will continue on Thursday one hour prior to services at church. To send online condolences go to www.wintzrayfuneralhome.com. Pallbearers will be Jimmy Pick, Kelly Pick, Tony Pick, John Pick, Taylor Pick, and Connor Pick. Honorary pallbearers will be Caitlin Pick and Zoe Clark. “Well for Gods sakes” George Gerald Pick, “Gus”, the youngest of the William and Agatha (Berg) Pick family was born on February 11th, 1931 in Hartington, Nebraska and passed away peacefully on May 27th 2018. He was united in marriage to Marilyn Marie (McGregor) Pick on September 1st, 1953 in Hartington Nebraska and began building a legacy and a life on a family farm. Gus enjoyed the life of a Nebraska farmer and enjoyed farming with family north of Hartington for over 60 years. He raised cattle and hogs. He grew corn, oats, milo and soybeans for crops. He was innovative, creative and recognized as one of the first in Cedar County to irrigate crops and to utilize dryer bins for corn crops. He had a love of animals but especially for dogs. He raised and sold Weimaraner hunting dogs for a short time. His especially loved his golden retrievers Mac and Elvis. In addition to a passion for farming, he was a lifelong Democrat (except for one day), a lifelong practicing Catholic and a proud member of the Holy Trinity Church. He was a notorious sports fan for high school, college or professional sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.) and enjoyed a good card game of poker. George often pushed a “pause button” on work whenever his beloved Huskers were playing. In his younger years he enjoyed playing baseball, was an avid hunter, enjoyed stock car racing and being a little league basketball coach. He was a referee for sporting events and hung up his whistle and high tops for more time on the tractor. His greatest achievement in his life was his family. He and Marilyn were proud of their children and took pride in guiding them through life’s challenges and in taking time to celebrate family successes. He believed in the Good Life that Nebraska offers and that faith, family and friends made it all possible. He was especially proud of his grandkids and notorious for giving advice and wisdom to them with quotes like “hit the books” and “get to church”. Gus often commented, “I’ve been blessed” and gave back to many local and national projects and especially to the Hartington community. Because of his commitment to his faith and church he made contributions to special projects important to him. Some included the Hartington Senior Center, the new Holy Trinity Rectory, funding the automatic door opener for the Holy Trinity church. As a true democrat he suggested it be installed on the left side of church. He also enjoyed spending time at the Senior Center as a volunteer and he provided some of the wheels for meals on wheels program for a few years. It made him humble to realize how much this program meant to people. He enjoyed visiting with everyone who would listen and talked politics to help solve the world’s problems. He enjoyed visiting with people using his quick wit and fun sense of humor and was never shy to give his opinion “oh that’s Bullshit”. He gave generous personal time of his life while he served on many local boards such as the Hartington Public School Board, the Nebraska Pork Producers, Aksarben Ambassadors that honored pioneer families, County Assessor and the Cedar County Commissioners board to name a few. George is survived by his children, Stephen Michael Pick of Hartington, Terri Lee Thomas of Globe Arizona, Doug and Janice (Promes) Pick of Omaha, Dan and Tina (Buckman) of Omaha. Four grandchildren, Taylor Marie Pick, Connor Douglas Pick, Zoe Clark and Caitlin Pick all of Omaha. His oldest sister Emma Hirschman of Omaha also survives him as well as a sister-in-law Virginia Pick of Norfolk. In lieu of flowers Gus would wish for a kind donation to one of the following organizations that he supported and are ones he knows would also enjoy your support; The Hartington Senior Center, Holy Trinity Parish of Hartington or the Nebraska Medical Center. Gus enjoyed the teachings of Mother Teresa who explained: “If you want to find happiness then go home and love your family“ He died peacefully with family members around him. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years Marilyn and son Scott, his parents William and Agatha, brothers William Pick Jr, Alfred Pick, Herbert Pick, Raymond Pick, sisters Leone Allen and Monica Becker.