Hubert J. Kepner, 88, passed away on January 22, 2013 on the family farm in Nora Township where he was born and lived for all of his life. He was born on March 11, 1924, the third son of Albert and Josephine (McCormack) Kepner.
Hubert married Vivian Fieldstad on November 28 1948 at the First United Methodist Church in Freeport IL and settled on the family homestead, living in the house his grandfather built in 1894. Together they raised and he is survived by four children: Robert (Theresa), Dr. Barbara (Dean) Gerbick, George (Rogene), all of Lena IL, and Charlie (Martha) of Chicago.
Hubert was the fourth generation of Kepners to farm in the Nora area and was proud of his pioneer heritage, having lived his entire life on the farm his grandfather purchased and settled in 1872. He grew up during the Depression which greatly affected him and his viewpoint on life. Hubert was also deeply influenced by the close-knit and extended family relationships with uncles, aunts and cousins who regularly visited the home farm in his early years.
He attended grade school at Chelsea School, a one-room schoolhouse, and graduated from Stockton High School in 1943. As a young man he farmed with horses and participated in neighborhood threshing rings, events that are now commemorated in festivals, but at that time were dusty and laborious tasks where the burden was shared by family and neighbors working together. He farmed alongside his father until his father's death in 1963. The farming operation, like most of that time, included milk cows, hogs, sheep and chickens. Later in life he concentrated solely on the hog enterprise, and then gradually expanded the cropping enterprise as his two sons, Robert and George, joined and started their own farming operations. He was an actively engaged farmer operating his beloved Case Magnum tractor and Case IH combine till the age of 87. He was a lifelong proponent of conservation practices and maintaining the condition of the soil. With the advent of improved conservation methods in the 1930's, his father Albert adopted many of them that Hubert carried forward and maintained that attitude throughout his farming career.
Hubert was a keen observer of politics and current events, an avid reader and very interested in history. He enjoyed listening to Orion Samuelson of WGN, Willie Nelson and watching Gunsmoke and John Wayne movies. He had a wry sense of humor, even in his final days, and will be greatly missed. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Warren, which later merged and became the United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife Vivian, 4 children, nine grandchildren: Valerie (Ryan) Deal of Monroe WI , Paul (Alicia) Kepner of Freeport, Alison Kepner and David Kepner, both of Waunakee, WI, Claire and Olivia Kepner, both in Lena IL, and Peter, Elizabeth and Katherine Kepner, all in Chicago; and two great-grandchildren: MacKenzie and Noah Kepner, of Freeport. He was preceded in death by his parents; two older brothers, Mac and Wendell; and three infant great-grandchildren, Kyle Joseph Kepner, Madalyn Janice Deal and Ava Theresa Deal.
Visitation will be on Friday, January 25 from 3 to 7 PM with a funeral service at 2:30 PM Saturday, January 26 at the Bartell-Leamon Funeral Home in Warren IL. Graveside service and interment to follow at Elmwood Cemetery, Warren IL. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established to assist in the purchasing of textbooks for worthy and needy students of Highland Community College, a local institution that Hubert strongly supported.
Hubert married Vivian Fieldstad on November 28 1948 at the First United Methodist Church in Freeport IL and settled on the family homestead, living in the house his grandfather built in 1894. Together they raised and he is survived by four children: Robert (Theresa), Dr. Barbara (Dean) Gerbick, George (Rogene), all of Lena IL, and Charlie (Martha) of Chicago.
Hubert was the fourth generation of Kepners to farm in the Nora area and was proud of his pioneer heritage, having lived his entire life on the farm his grandfather purchased and settled in 1872. He grew up during the Depression which greatly affected him and his viewpoint on life. Hubert was also deeply influenced by the close-knit and extended family relationships with uncles, aunts and cousins who regularly visited the home farm in his early years.
He attended grade school at Chelsea School, a one-room schoolhouse, and graduated from Stockton High School in 1943. As a young man he farmed with horses and participated in neighborhood threshing rings, events that are now commemorated in festivals, but at that time were dusty and laborious tasks where the burden was shared by family and neighbors working together. He farmed alongside his father until his father's death in 1963. The farming operation, like most of that time, included milk cows, hogs, sheep and chickens. Later in life he concentrated solely on the hog enterprise, and then gradually expanded the cropping enterprise as his two sons, Robert and George, joined and started their own farming operations. He was an actively engaged farmer operating his beloved Case Magnum tractor and Case IH combine till the age of 87. He was a lifelong proponent of conservation practices and maintaining the condition of the soil. With the advent of improved conservation methods in the 1930's, his father Albert adopted many of them that Hubert carried forward and maintained that attitude throughout his farming career.
Hubert was a keen observer of politics and current events, an avid reader and very interested in history. He enjoyed listening to Orion Samuelson of WGN, Willie Nelson and watching Gunsmoke and John Wayne movies. He had a wry sense of humor, even in his final days, and will be greatly missed. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Warren, which later merged and became the United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife Vivian, 4 children, nine grandchildren: Valerie (Ryan) Deal of Monroe WI , Paul (Alicia) Kepner of Freeport, Alison Kepner and David Kepner, both of Waunakee, WI, Claire and Olivia Kepner, both in Lena IL, and Peter, Elizabeth and Katherine Kepner, all in Chicago; and two great-grandchildren: MacKenzie and Noah Kepner, of Freeport. He was preceded in death by his parents; two older brothers, Mac and Wendell; and three infant great-grandchildren, Kyle Joseph Kepner, Madalyn Janice Deal and Ava Theresa Deal.
Visitation will be on Friday, January 25 from 3 to 7 PM with a funeral service at 2:30 PM Saturday, January 26 at the Bartell-Leamon Funeral Home in Warren IL. Graveside service and interment to follow at Elmwood Cemetery, Warren IL. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established to assist in the purchasing of textbooks for worthy and needy students of Highland Community College, a local institution that Hubert strongly supported.