George Lee Hirschbach

George Lee Hirschbach, 85, of Hartington, NE, died Sunday, May 29 at the Arbor Care Center peacefully after a brief illness, surrounded by his family and attended to by the center’s wonderful staff, hospice and his close friends. A celebration of George’s life is scheduled on Friday, June 10th from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Hartington VFW. Arrangements are under the direction of the Wintz Funeral Home in Hartington. Burial of his cremated remains will be at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa at a later date. George was born on Oct. 7, 1936 in Sioux City, IA, to Raymond and Thelma (Gallagher) Hirschbach, grew up in South Sioux City, NE and graduated from South Sioux High School in 1954. George was an excellent athlete, participating in basketball, baseball and track and was an avid handball player throughout his adult life at the Sioux City YMCA. He attended all of his children’s many sporting events. He graduated in 1958 from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he majored in business and was a proud member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He then began management of Hirschbach Motor Lines, founded by his father, built the business throughout his career and sold it in 1997. The company (Grojean) is still titled Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc. While working full-time in trucking, George’s lifelong love of law led him to complete a juris doctorate from the University of South Dakota in 1972 and practice motor carrier law. After moving to Hartington in 1999, he was appointed assistant county attorney to Ed Matney in 2001 and was elected Cedar County attorney in 2002, an office he held until his retirement in 2018 at 82 years old.  George lived in Hartington on a 350-acre farm converted into an environmental (prairie) preserve and was a committed conservationist. He loved his German wirehaired pointer hunting dogs and his cats. He is survived by his wife Gretchen (Sides) Hirschbach of Hartington, his son Brent Hirschbach of Hartington, daughter Dana Hirschbach of Hartington, daughter Leslie Hirschbach Bez (Joel) of Fort Lauderdale, FL, son Blake Hirschbach (Nancy) of West Palm Beach, FL, niece Jamie Scholl Frye of Austin, TX and his extended family. He was preceeded in death by his father and mother, a brother Darrell Hirschbach, a marine who was killed in Korea at age 19 in 1951, his sister Kay Scholl, and niece Anne Scholl Blair. In lieu of flowers or gifts, George requested donations be made to the following organizations and charities in which he was involved: Northern Prairies Land Trust; Heartland Humane Society; Boys and Girls Clubs of America (local chapter).