News

Sometimes a mistake and a little luck can change your life for the better. Joseph Kurtenbach graduated from Lindsay Holy Family in 1951 and volunteered for the draft for the Korean War two years later. After 19 months of service, he returned to the family farm in Spalding, Nebraska to farm with his Dad. Then his fortunes changed.

“The following year I went out on my own and went broke from grasshoppers, hail and drought,” Kurtenbach said. “It turned out to be a blessing because I decided to continue my education at the Milford Trade School (now Southeast Community College).”

He liked working with his hands so he enrolled in the Tool and Die program. Kurtenbach was also able to take advantage of the GI Bill which gave him a monthly stipend of $72 a month. To supplement his stipend, he washed dishes and cleaned the cafeteria during the week and worked at Henke Machine in Columbus, Nebraska on Saturdays. He also had other experiences on campus.

“I was here when the tornado went through campus on April 24, 1957,” he said. “We would also shoot squirrels and cook them in a popcorn popper in the dorm to eat.”

Kurtenbach graduated in 1959 from the Machine Tool program and worked for a short time at Behlen Manufacturing in Columbus. He then went to Stanley Aviation in Aurora, Colorado, making low-altitude ejection seats for aircrafts. After 12 years, he and his wife Marge moved to California where Kurtenbach spent the next 30 years in nuclear weaponry and geothermal energy. All of this success wouldn’t have been possible without Southeast Community College.

“I had wonderful instructors, Jim Powers and Ed Garner, to whom I owe much of my success,” Kurtenbach said. “The confidence and teaching I received at Milford guided me every day. I was given the ability to lead with a sound basis.”

Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu