Former state senator, rural champion dies

Merton L. "Cap" Dierks spent years serving as an advocate for agriculture and rural Nebraska issues, including education, wind energy development and the right to life.

The longtime Ewing resident and former Nebraska legislator, died Friday, Oct. 22, from complications following a stroke, at Arbor Care Center, in O'Neill.

Dierks was 89.

His love of rural Nebraska began at birth, at his family's ranch, comprising six sections near Goose Lake, in southeastern Holt County.

The ranch included a sod house, built by his grandfather, Wilkie Dierks.

Dierks attended St. Mary's Academy, in O'Neill, and...