Mr. Ralph A. Spilinek

Ralph Anton Spilinek, 83, of St. Paul, formerly of Elba died Friday, July 18, 2008 at the Howard County Community Hospital in St. Paul after a courageous battle with cancer.



Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in St. Paul. The Father Richard Piontkowski will officiate. Interment will be held in the Elba Cemetery at Elba. Visitation will be held on Monday, from 5 - 8 p.m. at the church. The praying of the rosary will be at 7:30 p.m., Monday by Father Ray Kosmicki. The Knights of Columbus will assist.



Memorials are suggested to the Elba Community Foundation, Howard County Community Hospital Foundation or the family's choice.



Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul is in charge of arrangements.



Mr. Spilinek was born February 15, 1925 at the family farm near Elba to Anton and Esther (Poss) Spilinek.



Ralph attended Elba Public School and graduated in 1942. Due to his father's illness and early death, Ralph helped his mother and family keep the family farm near Elba and helped to raise his three younger siblings. His belief in innovative farming methods led the family to be the first in the area to have a modern tractor, a modern combine, a Delco generator and to use irrigation on the farm.



On January 6, 1948 he was married to Ruth A. Miller in St Paul, Nebraska at Sts. Peter and Paul's Catholic Church. He had met Ruth at a dance and they continued to enjoy dancing throughout his life. The couple first made their home on various farms in the Elba and Farwell areas, finally settling just outside Elba in the beautiful North Loup Valley.



He worked as a security guard at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant for several years in the early 50's and later oversaw their grain storage.



He and Ruth were always interested in improving farming methods for all area farmers and together they started a fertilizer business in the mid 50's. Spilinek Fertilizer Service later expanded into a full service agricultural sales and service business which included Sukup equipment and MFS grain bins.



He started ridge tilling back in 1960 with a modified IH middle-buster planter and then worked with an engineer at Fleischer Manufacturing to perfect ridge till farming and their business became a Buffalo dealership. In 1992 he and Ruth were inducted into the Ridge Till Hall of Fame.



In 1953 they drilled their first irrigation well and used gravity and hand move sprinklers until 1970 when they installed the first pivot in Howard County on their farm west of Elba. Immediately thereafter, they became dealers for Zimmatic pivots made by Lindsay Manufacturing. One of his greatest pleasures was driving through the countryside to see the successful farm operations of his customers.



Education was a priority with him and he sponsored many youth activities. He was instrumental in the initial Head Start program and served on the Elba School Board for 32 years. He was a firm believer in hard work and play and instilled those values in his family of whom he was very proud. Ralph and Ruth faithfully followed their children's, grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's sporting and academic events. He was a diehard Elba Bluejay and St. Louis Cardinal's fan.



He thrived on the gamble of farming, horse racing, playing keno, going to casinos and playing the lottery. He always said, "You make your own luck." He was a salesman whether it was pivots or charity raffle tickets.



In 2001 they retired and moved into St. Paul and later sold their Spilinek Irrigation Inc. business to their daughter Nancy and Bob Wood.



Ralph was a past member of the Loup Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was active in many boards and associations including the Elba State Bank Board, a 32 year member of the Elba School Board, the Elba Volunteer Fire Department, Lindsay Dealer Council, the Ridge Till Hall of Fame, the Elba Community Club, and the Elba Businessman's Association.



Ralph was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of Elba, Knights of Columbus #1918 of St. Paul; and the Grand Island Elks Lodge #604.



Survivors include his wife, Ruth of St. Paul; nine daughters and eight sons-in-law, Nancy and Bob Wood of Greeley, Linda Wilson and her friend, Bobby Dugan of Grand Island, Judy and Mark Dugan of Elba, Christie and Ned Vlach of Lincoln, Laura and Ed Methe of Kearney, Marilyn and Todd Beck of Wolbach, Jeanine and Mark Soneson of St. Paul, Kathleen and David Kuszak of Elba and Monica and Arend Wolzen of Hickman; 23 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Gerald and Roberta Spilinek of McCook and Dale and Sally Spilinek of Hastings; one sister and brother-in-law, Rosella and Bob Noden of Grand Island; and a step sister and brother-in-law, Fern and Gaylord Nielsen of Grand Island.



Ralph was preceded in death by his parents; step father, Edward Matousek; and an infant sister, Geraldine.