Memorials › Leon Ray Foulk
Leon Ray Foulk
14 Feb 1926 – 2 Jun 2014
| Birth | 14 Feb 1926 |
| Death | 2 Jun 2014 |
| Cemetery | Ord Cemetery Ord , Valley County , Nebraska , USA |
| Added by | Starlight on 11 Mar 2015 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130889504 |
Bio
Leon R. Foulk, 88, of Ericson, peacefully passed away on Monday, June 2, 2014, at the Good Samaritan Health System in Kearney. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at the Ericson United Methodist Church with Pastor Glenn Hubbard officiating and Eudeen Nichols as the pianist. Inurnment will be at the Ord Catholic Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. with Military Honors presented by the Ord VFW Post 7029, American Legion Post #38. Ord Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements. Leon was born February 14, 1926, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Dudley Ellsworth Foulk, Sr. and Hilda E. (Weinhardt) Foulk. Dud, a Nebraska native, had met Hilda in Williamsport while playing for the Grays baseball team. Leon attended Grand Island Senior High School, graduating in 1944. Following graduation he played pro baseball (he said he would rather play ball than eat) briefly before joining the U.S. Navy, training at Farragut Naval Training Center and serving on the USS Alcyone as a fire controlman third class in the Pacific until his discharge in 1946. He then returned to professional baseball, as a pitcher mostly, with the Chicago Cubs organization. Following his baseball career he became a loyal, and many times frustrated, fan of the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs, disdaining the American League and its designated hitter rule. He married Wilma Matilda Klanecky of Ord in 1951, retired from baseball in 1953, joining his father in Ericson in the well-drilling business. He became sole owner in the 1960's and operated Leon Foulk Well Drilling until the 1980's. Wilma, after fifty-five years of marriage, passed away in 2006 following a long illness for which Leon was her primary care-giver. Also preceding him in death were his parents and brother Richard Yeager of Williamsport, PA. Those left with loving memories are daughters Karen Roubicek, of Castle Rock, Washington, her husband Chris; and Laurel Heidbrink, of Lincoln, her husband Kent; five grandchildren and their spouses: Ben and Shannon Roubicek, Sarah and Derek Swanson; Nathan and Alicia Roubicek; Kalen Heidbrink and Braden Heidbrink; five great-grandchildren: Ruby, Reagan and Roy Swanson; Stella Roubicek and Alec Roubicek; brother Dudley, Jr., of Eugene, Oregon; sister-in-law Barbara Rakosky; brothers-in-law Wayne Rakosky and Ronald Wells; and numerous nieces and nephews. Leon recalled that his grandfather Benneville could visit with anyone, and he emulated him throughout his life with a prowess for storytelling enhanced by his prodigious memory for names and events. He was grateful that he was blessed with an athletic physique that allowed him to engage in high school sports (he held the State discus record of 156 feet, 6 inches, obtained as a junior, until the 1960's) and play professional baseball, signing a contract before he graduated. He was inducted into St. Paul's Nebraska Museum of Major League Baseball in 2010. He was an avid duck and pheasant hunter and ardent fisherman who particularly enjoyed many fishing trips with friends to Canada's Great Slave Lake, ice fishing on Pibel and Lake Ericson, summer trips to Merritt with his pick-up camper and boat. His son-in-law Chris frequently reminded Leon of his strangest catch: Chris's ear while casting at Lake Ericson. Family trips to the Black Hills, Grand Tetons and Williamsport also provided great memories. Even in his final days, Leon maintained a youthful exuberance for life. He was especially appreciative of the many friends, including but not limited to Virgil and Lois Swett, William and Kathy Curry, Ramona Smith, Sharon Gydesen and Dwight and Deeni Nichols whose assistance, particularly in his later years, allowed him to fulfill his wish to remain in his beloved Sandhills home. He was a member and former trustee of the Ericson United Methodist Church, assisted with the Church's 4th of July dinner at the Community Hall for many years; served as a volunteer fireman and on the Ericson Village Board; was a past member of the Nebraska Well Drillers Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Old friends or new acquaintances stopping by the Foulk home would be enriched with Leon's conversations and Wilma's gracious hospitality. Even accidentally dumping her freshly baked pie on the kitchen floor didn't earn one of their friend's banishment. For many years his dear friend Virgil Swett would drop by most mornings (early) for Leon's famously weak coffee and a powdered sugar doughnut to relive days' past, and solve the world's problems.
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