| Graduation Year | Class of 1965 |
| Date of Passing | May 30, 2021 |
| About | Thomas L. Hardekopf Nov 16, 1946 - May 30, 2021 Thomas Hardekopf, 74 of Kearney passed away Sunday, May 30, 2021 at CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. Memorial services will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, June 11, 2021 at Kearney First United Methodist Church with Pastor Melody Adams officiating. Memorials are suggested to Habitat for Humanity. Condolences may be shared online at www.osrfh.com. Services are entrusted to O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral and Cremation Services. Tom was born on November 16th, 1946 to William O. and Mildred Kelly Hardekopf. He grew up playing baseball and after graduation at Grand Island Senior High in 1965, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and reported to Tampa, Florida for Spring training. His baseball career was short lived and he returned to Grand Island and married Cynthia Dokken in 1966. They moved to Kearney where he worked for Meadow Gold dairy as a wholesale route driver and later owned TLH Construction, building homes and remodeling: tilework was his specialty. He was a Senior League baseball coach for the Firemen, and later co-coached the Eagles in Little League. He worked with Habitat for Humanity for many years, developing many friendships. He formerly played tennis and loved golf. He liked to target shoot and slingshot with his grandsons, and watching robotics, soccer, and baseball. He loved their cabin in the Snowy Range, where many memories were made with his children and grandsons. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Cindy of Kearney; son, Tyler and wife, Ellishequea of Columbus, OH and their sons, Aidan and Avery; daughter, Rebecca and husband, Matthew Kauk of Kearney and their sons, Ben and Myles; his beloved dog, Ruby; a sister; and seven nieces and nephews, other extended family and several friends. He was preceded in death by parents; and sister, Carol Sems. |
