“Cliff” passed away peacefully with family by his side, having made it well past his 100th birthday last December. He was born near Anselmo, Nebraska, to Warren & Ethel Bomberger, the third of four children. About 1930 they bought a 160 acre farm in Weissert, NE, where he grew up and attended school, before boarding in Broken Bow, NE for high school, as most rural kids did with the bad roads and winter weather in the late 1930s.
He was a largely self taught outstanding musician and received recent TV coverage playing the piano at Mistys through his 99th year. He and his sister Ilene first formed a violin and guitar playing duo when he was about 7, and continued to play at community events all through their childhoods. He was even playing his keyboard a month ago. He particularly enjoyed it more intensely, as he lost much of his sight over the last few years, and like most performers, loved an audience. He was an avid fisherman and home repair expert. His first new car was a 1946 Hudson, with no bumper due to the shortage of materials after WW II, and another lifelong hobby was trading cars as fast as possible, every couple of years right up through a 2019 purchase.
After marrying his high school sweetheart and trying his hand at farming and high school music teaching, he served in the Navy in World War II. He graduated from U. of Nebraska and owned a Western Auto store in Lexington, Nebraska in the 50’s and tried his hand at inventing and marketing his Sno-Boat steel sled.
He moved his family to Lincoln in 1959, where he became a real estate broker and owned his own real estate company. He was highly respected as a successful realtor, having sold Bob Devaney and several assistant coaches their homes when they moved to Lincoln about 1963. He was a lifelong Husker football fan attending the games for decades and only stopped in recent years.
He also purchased and built several apartment buildings in Lincoln.
He is survived by his wife Carol, children Linda (Joseph) Shafer, Gregory (Carolyn) Bomberger, Grandchildren Dr. Darcy (Nicole) Silver Foral, Loren (Jenn) Buxton. Great grandchildren Chloe Buxton Matejka, Dean Foral, Vivian Foral and Miles Buxton. Step Children, Alisa (David) Durr, Kelly (Kimmy) McLean. Step grandchildren, Jillian & Jackson Durr, and his brother in law couple, Dr. Dennis and Carol Lower, and two sisters in law, Connie (Liebert) Bomberger and Azelia (Cooksley) Severs.
He was preceded in death by most of his generation, and by his first wife, Vivian (Cooksley) Bomberger, his younger brother Marlin Bomberger, his older sister Ilene (Bomberger) Powell, a sister who died as a child, Mildred Bomberger, and his parents Warren and Ethel Bomberger of Sargent, Nebraska.
Funeral service: 11:00 am Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Roper and Sons Midtown Chapel, 4300 ‘O’ St.
Visitation one hour prior to service.
Graveside service: 11:00 am Wednesday, July 12, 2023, Lone Tree Cemetery, Weissert, NE.
Memorials to Westminster Presbyterian or Weissert Church of God.