Robert "Bob" W. Gieser

Robert William Gieser of Tecumseh, Nebraska, was born March 21, 1927 in Ames, Iowa to parents, Carl William and Minnie Arvilla (Koehl) Gieser.  In 1932, when Bob was about age 5, Bob moved to Tecumseh, with his parents and older brother Carl Richard,  where their dad had purchased a rendering company.

Bob loved the small town of Tecumseh and called it home until moving to the Good Samaritan Society Care Center in Syracuse, Nebraska in May, 2019, following a stroke.  He died there on Friday, May 5, 2023 at the age of 96.   

Growing up, Bob enjoyed swimming, ice skating and playing football in Tecumseh, where he graduated from high school in 1946.  He went on the University of Nebraska for one semester when he decided he wanted to work in the family business, Tecumseh Rendering Company, until the sale of the business in 1985.  He also drove a rock truck for the county and then delivered rock on his own under the name of Indian Head Trucking. 

Bob married Elna Eileen Kent on June 7, 1949, in the chapel at Coryell Park, Nemaha County, Nebraska.  They had two daughters, Jean Louise born in 1952 and Mary Jane born in 1956.  Bob and Elna often took the girls to the Lake of the Ozarks and Omaha Lancer hockey games, which Bob and Elna continued to attend as long as they were able.

Bob would work down at his truck garage on his model trains, go watch planes and trains whenever he could, and loved buying and driving cars.  He always said driving was his hobby, by car with the family, or in the truck for the rendering company.  He enjoyed going to coffee several times a day after retirement.  Bob worked part time for Wherry Mortuary from the time he was just a kid in high school off and on and later in life. 

Bob was a member of the United Methodist Church from the time the family moved to Tecumseh and accepted Jesus as his Savior when just a young man.  He loved to sing in the church choir. He was community minded and served on the city council, economic development corporation and the airport authority. 

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Minnie Gieser, brother Carl and his in-laws Carl and Pearl Kent.

Survivors are his wife Elna, daughters and husbands Jean (Gieser) Brandt and Doug of Syracuse and Mary Jane (Gieser) Oswald and Dwight of Council Bluffs, IA.  He and Elna were blessed with six granddaughters and their spouses, Larissa (Brandt) and Rich Johnson of Gretna, Heather (Brandt) and Jason Ladman of Malcolm, Ellie (Oswald)  Diehm and Austin of Council Bluffs, IA, Charis (Oswald) High and Nate of Aurora, Charity (Oswald) Anderson and Levi of Cedar Rapids, IA and Faith (Oswald) Nichols and Isaiah of West Chicago, IL,14 great-grandchildren, Nolan and Emerson Johnson,  Addyson Hanson, Mason and Clara Ladman, Keira, Lainey, Zalie and Karsten Diehm, Lydia, Titus and Zion High and Noelle and Theo Anderson and brother-in-law Daryl Kent and wife Annie of Elkhorn, nieces and nephews.  

Bob's favorite bible verse was John 3:17:  "For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."                         

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at the United Methodist Church in Tecumseh, Nebraska with Pastor McKena Riungu officiating. The service was  livestreamed on the Wherry Mortuary Facebook page and a link to the livestream is now available at the bottom of Bob's webpage.

Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with family greeting friends from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at the Wherry Mortuary in Tecumseh, Nebraska.

Memorials may go to the United Methodist Church or the donor’s choice.

Interment will be in the Tecumseh Cemetery, Tecumseh, Nebraska.

Online condolences may be left @ wherrymortuary.com.

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