Harold R. Decker

Harold Raymond (Herm) Decker, long-time resident of the Black Forest, passed away December 27, 2010, after a four-and-one-half-year battle with aplastic anemia. Born September 16, 1929, in Alma, Nebraska to Albert J. Decker and Ockje Johannah Frerichs (Hannah) Decker, he attended Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska under a football scholarship from 1947-1951 where he met his wife Beverly Oldemeyer Decker. They were married January 21, 1951 in Brush, Colorado. He served in the Army at Denver Fitzsimons Army Hospital from 1951-1953. Mr. Decker received his master’s degree in school administration at Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado) in 1956, and also pursued post-graduate studies at Stanford University in 1966. He was Golden Gloves boxing champion in the state of Nebraska in 1947, was the recipient of the Hastings College Bronco Award in 1951, and was inducted into the Hastings College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 for his performance as a football player and boxer.

A lifelong educator, he taught one year in Globe, Arizona, and then served as Junior High Principal and Director of Instruction and Guidance in Eaton, Colorado (1956-1959). He was Superintendant of Schools in Grover, Colorado from 1959-1962 before becoming Superintendent of Schools at Woodlin School District R-104 in eastern Colorado from 1962-68. After working for two years in Garden City, Kansas overseeing the construction of a plastic pipe manufacturing company, he settled in the Black Forest in 1970 to start what became Decker Library Book Service as a publishers’ representative, providing books to school libraries in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming for over 40 years. In 1971 he was a founding member of Black Forest Lutheran Church. An avid hunter, fly fisherman and gardener, he took pride in using his many and varied gifts to put food on the table. His hunting endeavors were aided by a string of horses, mules, and hunting dogs.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Gayle Oldemeyer Decker of the Black Forest; a sister Viola Peterson of Alma, Nebraska; and a brother Walter Decker of Sullivan, Missouri. Additional survivors include his five loving children: Steven J. Decker of Ontario, Oregon; Michael J. Decker of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Glenn A. Decker of Countryside, Illinois; John R. Decker of San Antonio, Texas; and Barbara K. Decker of Denver, Colorado, along with 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by two brothers: Wilbur Decker and John Decker.

Visitation will take place on Thursday, December 30, 2010, at Mountain View Mortuary, 2350 Montebello Square Drive, Colorado Springs, CO, from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. Funeral services will occur at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, December 31, 2010, at Black Forest Lutheran Church, 12455 Black Forest Road, Colorado Springs, CO. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation, 825 E. Pikes Peak Ave. Suite 600, Colorado Springs, Colorado, or Black Forest Lutheran Church will be appreciated. In addition, to support others with aplastic anemia, the family would ask all friends to please consider becoming blood donors.

Arrangements under the direction of Mountain View Mortuary, Colorado Springs, CO.