Springlake Angus by Tim McCray Tim@ABPmag.com
- An Accidental Legacy -
The Legacy of Rito 707 & 7075 is well established in the herd at SpringLake Angus in Lynch, Nebraska. It is probably Delbert Timperley’s luck that he had purchased a 707 son in the late 60’s from a breeder in Iowa, which set SpringLake Angus on its path. His son, Gene Timperley, his wife Kelcey, and their daughter Teal, make up SpringLake Angus today. It’s probably Gene’s legacy that built the SpringLake Angus Center. It was that Center that also served as the inspiration for this article. But it turned into so much more... I was shocked that nothing had been written about this family, so I feel it necessary to at least acknowledge its start and give a very brief account of their history. Delbert Timperley met his wife MaryLee while she was renting from his brother, and working as a teacher at their rural school. They were married in 1945 while Delbert was home on leave before being deployed to Japan. His unit was one of the first to occupy Japan at the end
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of WWII. There was no time off back then, so when you came home you just went back to work. When Delbert returned, he planted corn and continued his chores with his herd at their home on the family farm in Stanton County Nebraska. They had a small commercial herd and some Herefords at the time, and Delbert also owned and ran a service garage from the farm. Being born into a family of “The Greatest Generation” has its rewards, and as some might say, its punishment. If you choose to look at work rather than play as punishment. To a child it is anyway. But those children are taught a good work ethic at the same time. A work ethic that also transfers to the next generation (hopefully). But of course hard work has its own rewards. One of Gene’s earliest memories was around the time he was four years old. Not yet able to walk through the snow on his own, his father would carry him to the tractor. It was Gene’s job to hold the steering wheel straight so that
American Beef Producer
Delbert & MaryLee Timperley
Delbert could be on the feed wagon throwing bales. “I was too small to sit on the seat, so I stood to the side and did the best I could to keep those wheels straight” Gene recalls. “Then when it would be time to turn around, Dad would jump off the wagon and hop back into the driver’s seat to turn us around.” A few years later, Delbert would buy a few registered Angus as he was getting tired of de-horning the
March 2021
