CEDAR COUNTY, NEBRASKA - RALPH “CHUNK” WESTADT

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RALPH “CHUNK” WESTADT

Funeral services were held Thursday morning, March 28 for Ralph Westadt 
at the United Methodist Church in Wausa.

Ralph Russell (Chunk) Westadt was born October 10, 1904 at Elk City to Carl 
and Bertha (Chambers) Westadt. The family resided on farms near Elk City, 
Oakland, Belden and Pearl Creek communities.

Ralph joined the Methodist Church in Belden in 1918, transferred to Randolph 
in 1920 and later transferred to Wausa in 1972.

As a teenager, he began playing pasture ball at Sholes and Winside always as 
a catcher. He had played in the four states of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota 
and Nebraska and played against the House of David the first time they appeared 
in Nebraska. Most of his playing was with Randolph, Laurel, Coleridge and Wausa 
teams, however he did catch a season for the semi-pro Sioux City Stockyards teams.

The Randolph Times printed an article in 1929 calling Westadt the “Babe Ruth” 
of the tourney as he hit eight times straight or eight out of nine times at bat. 
In his 40’s Chunk kept active umpiring. Chunk often told the story of the fall of 
1938 when Cliff Hillberg drove out to the farm to hire him to play for Wausa Labor 
Day games, however, the three little kids had been playing in the corn crib where 
he stored his Hudson Teraplane and had lost the car keys. Hillberg got some keys 
made so he could play. The following spring, those lost keys were found on the 
basement floor with the corncobs.

The Carl Westadt family moved to the Pearl Creek area in the spring of 1928 where 
Chunk courted a young rural schoolteacher, Ruth Bayne. On May 16, 1933, Ralph and 
Ruth were married at the Methodist Church in Randolph. To this union were born two 
daughters, Elaine Ann and Lorraine Jean and a son Ralph VaNoy.

Chunk served his community by being a member of the rural Morningside School Board 
and the Magnet School Board. He was a Cedar County Commissioner from 1948-1952, also 
served three terms on the FHA Board and has been an alternate delegate to the Nebraska 
Democratic Convention. 

Chunk and Ruth sold their farm to the Delmer Greeno family and moved to Wausa in October 
1981 and easily adapted to city life.

They kept active bowling and Chunk was always ready to go fishing with Merlin Lind. He 
enjoyed many good games of pinochle and sheephead with his friends at Bills Lounge.

Chunk passed away the early evening of March 24 at Osmond General Hospital due to 
complications of a cancer related blood disease that eventually resulted in the amputation 
of his left foot. He is preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Glenn, Earl and 
Roy and one sister, Gladys Oxley.

He will be missed by his wife Ruth, daughters Elaine Schreiber and Lorraine Stanfield and 
son-in-law Jim Schreiber all of Papillion, his son VaNoy and wife Norma Westadt and six 
grandchildren.