Donald Glen Poe

Donald Glen Poe passed from this life on November 2, 2023 at the Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial, NE. Don was born in Holyoke, CO during a blizzard on January 14, 1931 to Glen and Della Walgren Poe. He graduated from Amitie School, Phillips County High School (1949) and Northeastern Junior College (1951). He and Esther Douglass were married in Holyoke on March 14, 1953. For the first few years of marriage, Don worked road construction around Colorado, including building the Valley Highway through Denver, and drove semi-trucks for Harms Brothers out of Fleming hauling grain across the entire Midwest. In 1957, Don and Esther took over operation of, and raised their children on, the family farm southeast of Holyoke that was homesteaded by Don’s great-grandparents in the 1890s. They farmed dryland and ran Hereford cattle, along with hogs and sheep on occasion. During the summers, Don drove trucks for Harms Brothers, Wendell Ahnstedt, James Scholl, Bob Davis and others to supplement the farm income. In 1976, they put in irrigation sprinklers, and Don and his son Mike committed to farming and ranching full-time.
Despite a childhood injury that left him with only one fully functioning hand, Don was a very hard worker. People often commented that he accomplished more with one hand than most people could with two. He rarely purchased new farm equipment, preferring to buy used machinery that he could cut up then weld together into the implement that worked the way he wanted. He was the perfect father for his children Patti and Mike, playing games, building toys, and teaching them to do farm chores, ride horses and drive tractors and farm trucks from the age of 3. He supported them through many years of 4-H, FFA and a variety of school activities. Don felt sorry for kids who had to live in town, and over the years, several sets of parents left their children with Don to let them experience the freedom and responsibility of living on a farm. His grandchildren remember him rescuing trapped baby kittens and teaching them all about the farm. He was active in Phillips County and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, state and local politics, and the Pleasant Valley Ballpark. He was an early member, and current member, of the Sandhills Volunteer Fire Department and was always ready to lend a hand or tools or supplies when a friend or neighbor was in need.
Don is survived by his son Mike, daughter Patti, son-in-law Barry Logan, and grandchildren Brian and Holly Logan. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Dean and wife Esther.