Rev. Tim Hebert and Nurse Sandy Hebert will make history this year as the first married couple to simultaneously serve as Oregon Trail Days Half-Century President and Vice President.
Sandy Hebert moved to Gering midway through her junior year and graduated from GHS in 1977. She enrolled in West Nebraska General Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1980.
Between graduation and 2024, she will pursue a career in various departments within the Regional West system.
“I started out working in pediatrics for five years, then spent 37 years in recovery rooms, the last two and a half in an infusion center,” she says, “and now I’m very proud to work as a home hospice nurse at Brookstone.”
Tim Hebert moved to Gering from Scottsbluff in 1967. At the time, his father was the pastor of Northfield Church. The family left Gering for a few years and returned to Gering in 1973, just as he was starting high school.
Anyone else reading this…
“I met this beautiful blonde and we started dating in the fall of my senior year of college in 1975,” he says. “We got married in 1979 and started living here.”
Tim Hebert worked for UPS for 35 years while also serving as a music minister at Gering Zion Church, where his father was the pastor. Twelve years ago, he took over as the congregation’s leader.
The Heberts raised their two children in Gering and have six grandchildren currently attending school in Gering.
There are several foundations for the Hebert family, but perhaps the most prominent are music and faith.
“We’re a musical and pastoral family. That’s our history,” Tim Hebert said. “My family has been singing gospel together my whole life, and we’ve played a concert at Oregon Trail Days since probably 1981.”
His love of music has led Tim Hebert to attend about a dozen Theatre West productions over the years.
Most of the couple’s other community work is tied to church members, including hosting several tours to Israel and helping local believers see the Holy Land for themselves.
“What keeps us busy is church and family,” Sandy Hebert said.
The Hebert family’s annual Sunday night gospel jubilee has become a staple of Oregon Trail Days, but they also participate in other celebrations, which will be held again this Sunday at Gering Zion Church.
“Our other favorite thing is probably the Friday night food fair,” Tim Hebert said, “where we get to see old classmates. They don’t live here anymore, so this might be the only time of the year we get to see them.”
Other Oregon Trail Days events that the Hebert family has enjoyed over the years include the main parade, a children’s parade, a carnival, a penny toss, bed races and a bull tip tossing contest, the last of which sparked a rivalry among the family.
“Our daughter was a strong softball player in high school,” Tim Hebert recalled, “and she had a cow-tip contest with her mother, and she lost.”
In addition to being elected Half Century Chairman and Vice Chair, Tim and Sandy Hebert will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary during the month of July.
The Heberts had nothing but good things to say about their lives in Gering and the deep roots their family has established over the past 50 years.
“This is our home. This is where we’ve always been,” Tim Hebert said. “This is where we wanted to raise our kids. It’s a safe place. It’s quiet. It’s friendly. There’s nowhere else we’d rather be.”
“Our parents brought us here and raised us here,” she said. “They’re buried here and we raised our children here. This is truly home.”
Please contact Fletcher Halfaker at:
fletcher.halfaker@starherald.com, 308-632-9048.
We’re always interested in news in our community, so tell us what’s going on.
Go to form
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.
