John Lee Hendrickson was born December 10, 1946, the sixth child of Wallace and Emma (Peterson) Hendrickson. He grew up on the family farm in rural Swiss Valley, Custer County, Nebraska and attended school through the 8th grade beginning at Senate Valley and ending at Rose Valley rural school. He then attended high school at Broken Bow High School, graduating in 1966.
On January 11, 1967 he was inducted in the United States Army. After training, he was deployed to Germany with the European command, the 57th Artillery, where he was a Hawk Missile Crewman. He was honorably discharged December 15, 1968, and returned home to his parent’s farm.
During the early 1970’s John worked for Mid-Am Dairy in Broken Bow, Nebraska, where he had a rural bulk milk route. He later moved to North Platte, Nebraska, where he worked in trucking, and then to Syracuse, Nebraska, where he was employed by Burlington Northern Railroad as a pipefitter. In 1979 John moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to continue his work with the railroad. In the 1980’s, John moved back to Broken Bow, Nebraska for several years where he helped his brother, Allen Hendrickson, in construction. He later returned to Lincoln to work again for Burlington Northern and made Lincoln, Nebraska his home.
On June 27, 1993 he married Nancy (Strehlo) Peirce of Lincoln. Shortly after their marriage, John & Nancy purchased a cabin at Sherman Lake, Sherman County, Nebraska as a second home, where they spent many holidays & vacations. John retired from the railroad in July of 2012 after 36 years of service. After retirement John and Nancy spent several happy summers at their lake house, where John enjoyed many of his favorite things including reading, any kind of puzzles, word searches, grilling, evening campfires, 4th of July fireworks, spending time with family and especially spending time on the water in his boat.
John is survived by his wife Nancy, of Lincoln, Nebraska, her children Amy (Craig) Allerheiligen, of Lincoln, Nebraska, Shawn (Sarah) Peirce of Herndon, Virginia, Matthew Peirce of Des Moines, Iowa, Mark (Emily) Peirce of Aurora, Colorado; grandsons Caleb and Caden Allerheiligen; granddaughters Jade and Eden Peirce; sisters Marlene “Sis” Rapp of Kingsland, Georgia and Karen (John) Nehls of Broken Bow, Nebraska; brothers William (Reva) Hendrickson of Grand Island, Nebraska and Don (Karen) Hendrickson, Callaway, Nebraska; sister-in-law Dee Hendrickson of Broken Bow, Nebraska; and by multiple nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; infant sister, Lela; brothers Allen and Ted; sister-in-law Mary Hendrickson; brother-in-law Cliff Rapp and nephew Brad Hendrickson.
Services will take place on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 2pm at Roper & Sons Midtown Chapel, 4300 ‘O’ Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Burial will be at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Lincoln, Nebraska, following the service.
Visitation will be held from 1pm to 2pm, prior to the service.
Memorials to the family for future designation.
Services
Burial
Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
6800 S 14th St, Lincoln, NE 68512
Share a Memory or Condolence
My memories of John were from HS in Broken Bow. He was a soft spoken but friendly person. My grandmother had taught his older siblings in country school. John will be missed, I am certain. My sympathy to his wife, family and friends. Linda (Prescott) Dye Halstead
– Linda (Prescott) Dye Halstead
I am John’s daughter in law. It was wonderful knowing him the last 9 years. He was a wonderful grandpa to Jade and we are so glad he was able to meet our youngest, Eden, before he passed. Jade loved being held and then tickled by Grandpa John. Our dog Popeye (toy poodle) also loved John. He would bark and beg for treats from John, attempting to bully him into attention, which made John chuckle. John said he had a small poodle named Penny Valentine when he was younger , who Popeye reminded him of. We enjoyed sharing meals with John and Nancy at Olive Garden and at their home. It meant a lot to us that John and Nancy were able to come to our baby shower for Jade in 2022 and also came out for Thanksgiving that same year. Even with Alzheimer’s, John’s sense of humor always came through, and I always appreciated that. We will miss John dearly.
– Emily Peirce
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