Joseph 'Joe' Frederick Bauer, age 91, of Columbus, Nebraska, longtime resident of rural Ogallala, Nebraska, passed away on January 31, 2021 in Alamosa, Colorado.
Joe was born on August 2, 1929 to Lutheran missionaries, Julius and Elizabeth Bauer in Alameda, Argentina. He was the oldest of five siblings. In Argentina, Joe grew up speaking German in the Lutheran School that his father built and Spanish with his Argentine friends.
The Bauers returned to the United States when Joe was ten years old. They moved to a small farm in Palmyra, Missouri, very close to where Julius had met Elizabeth while on his vicarage. Joe attended country school in Palmyr for his elementary education, then he went to St. Paul's Lutheran School in Concordia, Missouri, where young men were sent to prepare for the ministry. After graduating from high school and a year of college, Joe moved to Ogallala, Nebraska and found his calling in farming and serving the church as a layman.
"Farm League" baseball was one of his passions. He had been invited by the St. Louis Cardinals to try out for the team, but his love for baseball would be replaced by his love for the beautiful Miss Bernice Stutheit. They were married on September 2, 1951 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ogallala, Nebraska.
Later that year, Joe enlisted in the newly formed U.S. Air Force and served in France during the Korean War, while Bernice stayed in Ogallala. Joe often shared the memories he and Bernice made in France when she came to visit. After serving overseas, they were stationed in Topeka, Kansas where their favorite daughter, Katherine, was born.
When Joe's military stint was over, they returned to Ogallala where Joe worked as a carpenter and a farmer. Joe was very proud of the many houses that he and Lyle Blakely built together - many are still standing today. In 1957, their favorite daughter, Marjorie, was born. In 1961 they moved to the Stutheit farm south of Ogallala, where Bernice had been born in 1930. Their favorite daughter, Lynette, was born in 1962. On that always "manicured" farm on the correction curve south of Ogallala, Joe and Bernice would raise their three daughters and farm for over fifty years. In 2014 they moved to Columbus, Nebraska.
Joe served on many boards at church, enjoyed woodworking, Polka dancing, fishing, golfing and spent many hours tinkering in the Quonset. He loved and served St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ogallala for most of his adult life. He knew that he was saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Since Bernice's passing in 2016, Joe alternated living with his daughters in Reno, Nevada, Columbus, Nebraska, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was extremely proud of his three daughters and their families; but he was waiting for the moment he would be united again with Bernice and together be with Jesus in Heaven.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Bernice; son-in-law, Doug Anderson; his brother, Julius; and a sister, June Reehl.
He is survived by his three daughters, Kathy (Dave) Dickens, Margie (Mark) Mercer, and Lynette (Dave) Buss; 10 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; sisters Elizabeth Peterson and Sadie Frerking; and a brother, James (Marilyn). Joe also leaves a mulitude of nieces, nephews, and friends - as he never met a stranger.
Services will be on Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ogallala, Nebraska with Pastor John Stubenrouch officiating. Interment will be in the Ogallala Cemtery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Adopt an Orphanage - Orphan Grain Train, Norfolk, Nebraska.
Condolences may be shared at prairiehillsfuneralhome.com, where a recording of the service will be posted.
Memorial book signing will be on Friday, February 5, 2021 at the Prairie Hills Funeral Home in Ogallala, Nebraska.
Prairie Hills Funeral Home in Ogallala, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements.