Virgil G. Pilger

Virgil Pilger was the kind of man who would give a stranger the shirt off his back if he needed it. He was fiercely loyal to his family and friends. A hard-worker who for much of his years at Hiland Roberts worked the night shift to make a little more to bring home.
He was born on Dec. 18, 1942, and grew up on the farm, the third of four children, Myron, Elwood and the youngest Pauline.
He met Charlene Landholm, the love of his life, cruising on Main Street in Norfolk on New Year’s Eve. He was from Plainview. She was from West Point. They met in the middle.
He was kind to everyone. He smiled big, gave big hugs. He wore Hawaiian shirts and flannels. He made people happy, with an early job setting pins at a bowling alley and later working at a dairy in Norfolk that would become the ice-cream plant.
He was proudly patriotic, drafted into the US Army to go to Vietnam right out of high school, much to the worry of his parents, Clara and Rudy, where he helped purify water for a hospital in Nha Trang. He didn’t talk a lot about what he saw there. But he was proud of his service. So is his family.
A lifelong Republican, he later would brave chilly weather to drive with his daughters, Lisa and Lori, from Norfolk to see President Bill Clinton and was one in the crowd at his speech on the tarmac at Offutt AFB to shake his hand. He respected the office.
In 2008, he and Charlene retired and moved to Omaha to be closer to their granddaughters, Lisa and Dean’s girls Jordan, Emma and Erin Thoene. His face lit up when he saw them. He was the biggest fan of their teams, in the crowd for dance recitals and in the bleachers for softball games and on the sidelines for soccer games, no matter the weather. He later shared the same love for his step-grandson, Jason, when Lori married Troy Anderson.
He loved banana splits and word-search games, the Huskers and the Royals, even Creighton. Most sports, really. He was a master parallel-parker and always kept a close eye on the news and the weather. He was quick to call and check-in after big storms swept through or cut off the power. He was a worrier, especially when family traveled, always liking a call when we made it home or a text when the plane landed.
He thought of others, often more than himself. In 2014, when twin tornados tore a path through Pilger, a town named after his great-grandfather, he went to volunteer, picking up the debris from the streets, wanting to do what he could to help.
He never dwelled on his own health problems, even as his life became harder due to COPD. He quietly endured. In the end, he remembered so many of the details, like his daughters making a special request on the radio for their anniversary, Don Williams’ “I believe in You,” and the trip to Alabama where the transmission went out on the way but we still made it in time for the niece’s wedding. He was just shy of his 83rd birthday. But he was surrounded by loved ones when he passed at 12:18 p.m. Wednesday. He was always on time.
Family plans to schedule a celebration of life soon.