Andrew W. McCumber
Andrew W. McCumber was the father of Wilbur J. McCumber. Wilbur is associated with the Bank of Wood River. Many people in the Wood River area became acquainted with Andy and his wife Mildred on their many visits to Wilbur and his family.
Andrew was born in Dixon, Illinois, August 28, 1904 and grew up in Nebraska in the Polk and Stromsburg area. In his early life, he helped support his mother and five sisters when his father left the family. He worked in Stromsburg, Nebraska as a delivery boy and also for the local broom factory. At age 20, May 12, 1924 he married Mildred May White of Doniphan, Nebraska.
Mildred's father was Sid White and her mother was Mable Metro White. Sid operated the barber shop and a pool hall in Doniphan. Andrew and Mildred lived in Stromsburg for about two years before moving to Grand Island, Nebraska. Times were hard and the great depression was in full swing. Andrew worked at the Grand Island Bakery and later for WTA projects. He and his wife of three children were chosen to participate in a government farmstead project south of Grand Island, Nebraska. They moved into their new home in 1935. Seven acres of truck garden crops and facilities for a cow, chickens and hogs made up their means for making a living. He subsidized his income by working at the Sugar Beet Factory in the fall and winter. Of the ten families, his was the only one to remain on the farmstead. He purchased the acreage from the government and continued to live there until his death.
During World War III, he was a labor supervisor for the Army Engineering Post at Grand Island Air Base. After the War was over, he worked as a carpenter in construction for Geer-Melkus Construction Company and later for the Geer Company. He was very proud to point out to his family and grandchildren all of the building projects in Grand Island in which he had a role. They were many.
He also had a large garden. He enjoyed worldng with plants and having people eat the vegetables he grew. He loved his family and people and they loved him. He worked hard all of his life, but seemed to enjoy everything he did. He retired in 1971 but always kept busy in his garden until his death September 6th, 1992.
He was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church and Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie8378 and was a Gold Eagle.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Wilbur of Wood River and Richard of Kansas City, Mo; one daughter, Joan (Mrs. James) Davis of Ravenna; nine grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren; and three sisters, Evelyn (Mrs. Morris) Johnson of Stromsburg, Nora Belle Seward of Lexington and Dorothy (Mrs. Lewis) Garren of York.
He was preceded in death by two sisters and two grandchildren.
Mildred McCumber
Mildred M. McCumber, 89, of 3548 Farmstead Road died Saturday, Sept 16,1995,at the St. Francis Medical Center.
Mildred was born July 16,1906, to Sidney and Mabel (Metro) White in Doniphan. She grew up and went to school in Doniphan, and later attended Grand Island Senior High School. Her father, Sidney, was a barber in Doniphan and later in Grand Island.
She married Andrew McCumber on May 12 ' 1924, in Council Bluffs, Iowa..The couple lived in Stromsburg and then moved to Grand Island in 1926. Their first son , Wilbur, was born November 16, 1927. (Wilbur came to Wood River, Ne. Sept. 1 1953 and was associated with the Bank of Wood River since that time.)
Two more children, Richard and Joan, were born in Grand Island. They moved to Grand Island Farmsteads in 1935 where she lived until her death. Andrew died September 6 1992.
She loved her three children, eight grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren. She and Andrew had many friends in the Grand Island-Wood River area. Mildred never found fault with anyone or anything and always appreciated what life presented. She was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church and the Eagles Club, where she and her husband were Golden Eagle.