David E. Hood

David Hood, age 75 of Cozad, passed away January 4, 2025 at Meadowlark Pointe after a brief battle with cancer. Dave was born March 15, 1950 to Rolland (Bud) and Grace (Epping) Hood at Gothenburg, Nebraska. They lived on the 96 Ranch south of Brady before moving to Cozad in time for him to start school. He attended Cozad City Schools for 11.5 years and a close friend convinced him to get his GED, which he completed in the fall of 1968 a few months after his class graduated. In 1970 he joined the Army and in 1971 he married Penny Yeutter. They began their marriage in Germany where he was stationed exploring the country as much as possible. After his two years of active duty, his obligation to the Army continued for four more years on Individual Ready Reserve. They returned to Cozad to make their home in 1972. Dave went to work with his Dad leveling land and farming. In 1977 he started driving a truck for Weber Transfer hauling cattle. He bought his own truck in 1978, the same year his parents incorporated their landleveling business as Rolland Hood & Sons Construction, Inc. For a few years his time was divided between landleveling and hauling cattle. In 1992 the company was mostly hauling cattle, and he hired Carol Bauer to help with the business. When his mother passed away in 1998 and his father retired soon after, he bought out his father’s interest in the company. They expanded the business to four trucks and seven trailers and expanded their territory into 14 states. A hopeful retirement ended up being extended five years until 2022 and routes limited to regional, leaving the long hauls to the younger guys. Dave always wished he’d kept track of how many miles he had actually driven in those 45 years and how many people he had taught to drive a semi-truck and get their CDL. One thing was for sure, he hated trucking east of the Missouri River. He was quick to talk someone else into hauling the loads that “crossed the river”. Dave was a member of the National Rifle Association, and a supporting member of the Dawson County Cattlemen and the Nebraska Cattlemen Association.

In the mid 70’s Dave, along with several friends, started the Tri-City Aqualakers Scuba Club. It included nearly 60 scuba divers from Cozad and the surrounding area. Many activities were held to promote scuba diving such as ice dives in the winter, spearfishing tournaments and underwater lake cleanups.

In 2016, he bought Mrs. Weber’s house and acreage, a place he had admired for many years. The lakes on this property brought back fond memories of his childhood of swimming in them with his siblings and cousins. Dave spent many hours leveling the acreage so he could plant it to alfalfa. Along with farming the railroad right of way, he mowed and baled many acres and hauled numerous bales of alfalfa and grass. Health issues in retirement may have slowed him down a bit but it didn’t keep him out of the tractor and payloader where you could find him nearly every day cleaning up the property of deadfall trees, mowing or moving snow.

His favorite times were camping in Colorado, ‘Big Mac’ aka Lake McConaughy and many other places, hunting, fishing, scuba diving and being with his friends. One of his proudest hunting accomplishments was a successful elk hunt in Wyoming. He loved teaching people to hunt deer and enjoyed their excitement when they shot their first one. He also taught many kids how to waterski or ride the tube while pulling them behind his boat or sledding on a car hood pulled behind his Jeep. Dave was the ‘fun uncle’ to all kids and had all the toys to play: three wheelers, odysseys, snowmobiles and more. He was a hard worker, and was always available to help a friend.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents, Rolland (Bud) and Grace Hood. Survivors include his sister Patricia (Howard) Knapp of North Platte and brother Randy Hood of Cozad, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends.

A memorial service will be held Friday, January 9, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. at the Berryman Funeral Home Chapel. Memorials are suggested to Cozad Fire and Rescue or Central Plains Home Health and Hospice.