Theodore “Ted” Franklin VonKampen, 81, passed away on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023, at Heritage Estates in Gering, NE, after a courageous yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. Funeral services will be held at St. John Lutheran Church in Scottsbluff, with the Rev. Jeffery Grams officiating on Monday, July 24, 2023, at 10:30am. Services will be livestreamed on Bridgman Funeral Home Facebook Page. Visitation will be on Sunday, July 23, 2023, from 4pm – 6pm at Bridgman Funeral Home in Scottsbluff. It is respectfully requested that memorials in Ted’s honor may be directed to the family. Online condolences may be made by viewing Ted’s memorial page at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com. Bridgman Family Funeral Home in Scottsbluff is entrusted with arrangements.
Ted was born the youngest child of Ed and Margaret VonKampen on October 20th, 1941, at home in Hastings, Nebraska. Ted was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Hastings, where he also attended grade school. He then attended Hastings High School, graduating in 1959. Ted started his college career at Hastings College, which he attended for 2 years before transferring to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to complete his degree in Electrical Engineering in 1964.
Ted met the Love of his Life, Loretta (Lorrie) Rasmussen on a blind date on February 2, 1962. They were married on June 9, 1963, the first couple to be married at the new Christ Lutheran Church in Cairo, NE. To this union, four children were born: Todd (1964), Chad (1967), Tamora (Tammy) (1971), and Courtney (1973).
Ted was the epitome of the self-made man. Always believing in being industrious, Ted held many jobs. Starting at a young age, Ted’s work life started as a boy delivering papers, then working at the Jack and Jill Grocery Store and Home Oil gas station as a teenager. Ted worked his way through college, working overnights at both State Hospitals in Hastings, then Lincoln, as well as Bair Machine Shop in Lincoln. He spent 2 summers working for the Forest Service in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, an area of the country Ted loved. He interned 2 summers with General Motors in Michigan. Receiving several offers upon graduation from UNL, Ted and Lorrie decided to move to California where he worked for Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, working as part of the Saturn V team. In California, Ted and Lorrie lived in Reseda and Tarzana for 2 years before returning to The Good Life of Nebraska. Ted accepted a position with TRW Capacitors in Ogallala, Nebraska, where he and Lorrie ultimately raised their family and lived for 23 years. A few years after TRW was sold to American Shizuki Corporation, he and Lorrie decided to move to Scottsbluff, NE, in 1990 to work for Industrial Midwec. Between these two positions, Ted became an expert (some would say THE expert!) in his professional field of Capacitor design. In fact, many years before it was en vogue, Ted started working remotely for a series of capacitor corporations around the country. These included Arcotronics – Cornell-Dubilier out of Portland, then Chicago, and then SBE in Barre, Vermont. The last years of his career were spent as a consultant, only fully retiring when he fell ill in 2022.
Ted traveled extensively for work and with family all over the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Summer Family Road Trips were a yearly occurrence, making memories that the family still reminisce about and hold dear today. Ted and Lorrie also traveled together to many locations, many times in their 1957 Corvette they owned and enjoyed for 40 years.
Never one to enjoy doing nothing, some of Ted’s hobbies included raising Shelties, and Amateur Radio (Call sign WA0VMT). In Ogallala, he had a side Radio Business, “Ted’s Two Way”. As a young man, he taught himself about automobile maintenance and repair, branching out into restoration in later years. If Ted didn’t know how to do something, he learned and excelled at it. He also enjoyed cooking and became quite a chef, trying and sharing new creations with family. Traveling to various grandchildren’s activities filled Ted’s later years as well.
With all these accomplishments, Ted often said he was most proud of his four children with Lorrie. His strong faith in God has been evident to all who know him, and he and Lorrie brought up their children to share this same faith. He was admired by all who knew him. Ted will be missed terribly as Eighty-one years was not enough time.
Survivors include Ted’s wife of 60 years, Lorrie of Scottsbluff, NE; Children Todd (Joan) of North Platte, NE; Chad (Florence) of Atkins, IA; Tamora (Brian Hood) of Fort Collins, CO; and Courtney (Shane Koehn) of North Platte, NE; as well as their 12 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Ted is also survived by his brother, Bill von Kampen of Seward, NE, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Margaret VonKampen and his sister, Mary Ann Steinkruger.