Jon Miller retires after 26 years with West-Hodson

OSMOND — Joining those of the Osmond businesses’ employees who have opted for retirement is Jon Miller, longtime employee at West-Hodson Lumber Company. Jon is retiring after 26 years of service to the lumberyard.

Jon grew up on a farm about 11 miles from Bartlett, NE, and graduated from Wheeler County High School (now Wheeler Central) in 1970. He was employed with a farmer in the Randolph area after high school, but in 1996, he joined West-Hodson when his father-in-law, who also worked for the company, got him in touch with Kelly Hodson, he said.

He remembers when he first started working there, some of the people he worked with then were Jerry Wingert and James Broekemeier, and Kelly and Luella, of course, he said. He got started learning the products, materials and lumber that were sold there, and started meeting the customers, and enjoyed it.

The position he started in, and held throughout the years, is “yard man,” he said, stocking lumber in the yard, waiting on customers and making deliveries.

He has enjoyed working with both his bosses, he said, but Rick Alderson, who worked there for a time, was one of his favorites to work with. He was always joking around, “just a fun guy to work with,” Jon said. And working with Jerry and Jim was enjoyable also, he added.

The business has changed quite a bit, he said. “We’ve added more to our storage, as you can see,” but his job as yard man has remained pretty much the same, Jon added.

As far as why he decided to retire, Jon said his age is getting up there. “I’m 70 right now, and my wife — she was a principal and school teacher at Randolph High School — she turned in her resignation, and I’ve been thinking about it in the back of my mind. I’ve got grandkids I enjoy seeing and want to spend more time with family. And I’ve been here quite a few years, and thought it was time to try a new chapter in my life.”

His plans for retirement are, mainly, to enjoy the grandkids and try and do some fun things with his wife and just enjoy life. He and his wife plan to move closer to their kids and grandkids, who live in Lincoln.

“Maybe down the road I might find a part-time job, just a few hours,” he said.

Jon met his wife, Mary, when she worked at Wheeler County High School as a PE teacher and coach. He ran the score clock for basketball games, he explained, so that’s how they met.

They moved to the Randolph area in 1987 and Mary had a job as a substitute teacher and coach there, but she has been the elementary principal in Randolph for the past seven years. Jon and Mary lived in Osmond for a time while their kids were going to school here, but moved back to Randolph about eight years ago, he said.

The couple have a son and a daughter, Adam and Kaitlyn, both graduates of Osmond High School, in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Adam is married to the former Carly Schmit, and the couple have two children with another on the way. Adam works for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Carly is a nurse at Bryan Medical Center in Lincoln. Kaitlyn is married to Kyle Winchell, who is originally from Colorado. Kaitlyn works at the Lincoln Zoo as an event coordinator and Kyle also works at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.