IVAN 'IKE' R. KARR 1-27-1917 to 1-3-2011

Former Blue Hill resident Ivan "Ike" Roy Karr, 93, of Hastings died Sunday, January 2, 2011 at Mary Lanning Memorial HealthCare in Hastings. Services are 3 p.m. Thursday at Blue Hill United Methodist Church with the Revs. Michael Lee Burgess and Baldeo Singh officiating. Private family burial will be at Blue Hill Cemetery. Visitation is 9 a.m. to noon Thursday at Merten-Butler Mortuary in Blue Hill. There will be no visitation at the church. In Lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the Mary Lanning Hospice program or the Blue Hill United Methodist Church. ************************************************************************* Ivan was born January 27, 1917 near Blue Hill to Frank and Bertha (Samson) Karr. He attended Cloverton school through grade 10 and then attended Blue Hill High School graduating in 1935. After graduation Ivan moved to Denver, Colorado and worked in a resturant for three years. In 1939 he traveled to California with friends and worked in the date orchards. When World War II came and his older brother Phillip, enlisted Ivan was called home to farm for his father. He married Agnes Svoboda on February 13, 1941 and moved to a farm west of the Karr home place where they lived for five years. During this time two children were born, Betty (Karr) Kort and Robert Roy. In 1947 the family moved to the Karr home place. In 1972 they moved to Blue Hill. Ivan continued to farm until he retired in 1979. Ivan and Agnas moved to College View in Hastings in 2009, Ivan was active in the Blue Hill Community throughout his life. He served on the Cloverton School Board for many years, life his father before him. With school consolidation he was elected to the Blue Hill community school board of education and was proud of his participation in the construction of the new Blue Hill high school building. Ivan also served on the Farmers union coop elevator board for 16 years and the Blue Hill united Methodist Church board. He served on the West Gate Manor board for thirty years. Above all Ivan was dedicated to his family and to his passion for farming. He started his farming career in tradition of the pioneers, working with horse drawn machinery and he continued to farm through the transition to the high tech farming techniques of the modern era. His belief in the progress of rural America was well demonstrated through his many years of service on a variety of community boards. Beloved by family and friends he will be missed. Ivan was preceded in death by his parents; six sisters; one brother; one grandson, Scott; and his son Robert. Survivors include his wife, to whom he was married for 69 years; children and spouses, Betty and Ron Kort of Hastings; daughter-in-law Pam Karr; six grand children and spouses, Vonda and Dave Tubbs of Aurora, Mike and Diane Karr of Blue Hill, Nicole and Jim Dietz of Grand Island, Dan and Mandy Karr of Aurora, Julie and Robert Wall of Frisco Texas, Amy Kort and husband George Smaragdis of Arlington, Va; and fourteen great-grandchildren.