Zimbelman enjoys long retirement from Sheridan County office
Zimbelman enjoys long retirement from Sheridan County office
By ALLAN TINKER
The fresh air and friendly atmosphere of his home county of Sheridan may account for why Hilmer Zimbelman has reached 91 years of age and remained spry and healthy. The former Sheridan County Treasurer and Register of Deeds, Zimbelman takes only a small dose of aspirin daily, as a medication.
Zimbelman served as a county official for about 28 years, 18 as Register of Deeds and another 10 as treasurer. He moved from the treasurer’s job to the Register of Deeds position after the Easter Sunday death of Judge Chas. G. Neff, starting work on the following Monday morning. He remained there until the county offices separated and became the County Recorder.
He noted a highlight from his years of conducting weddings, he performed 32. One couple came in and filled out the required paperwork and they were married. In this, they are to indicate if they have even been married before and/or divorced. Later a fight ensued, and it was learned that the husband already had a wife in Chicago.
Zimbelman’s wife, Laura (Wahl) died on Jan. 21, 2007. He noted that she was born on the same day of a different month and had a niece who also was born and died on the 21st. The little coincidences in numbers are something that sticks in his mind.
He noted that he used to be able to recall all the property descriptions when people came into his office to pay real estate taxes. He decided to seek the job as treasurer when Jack Schindler left the position.
Later, he ran against four others and kept the position, Adolph Heinle, Mabel Bold, August Herr and Andrew Schielke. “I was pretty good with numbers, said Zimbelman. This came in handy when back troubles interrupted farming as an occupation.
The couple had been farming on land that belonged to his father-in-law, Fred Wahl and his wife, Minnie. The farm was later owned by Ted Blotter. They moved into McClusky and lived on the east side of town, just a short distance from the corner house they later acquired, where Jerry and Andrea Kluck now live.
