Lavern Joseph Popken

Lavern J. (L.J.) Popken Passes (January 27, 1930 – July 27, 2025)

It is with great sadness that the family announces the passing of L.J. Popken. He died July 27, 2025 peacefully in his sleep at the age of 95. Since moving to Colorado in 1996, L.J. lived in Golden, Highlands Ranch, and most recently in Englewood’s The Belleview Senior Living community.  He was preceded in death by his wife, Lola Jean Popken, of over 73 years, as well as brothers George, Hank, Don, and Ray, and daughter Lori Lynn.  He is survived by his sister, Carol Sorenson; sons Lt. Col. (Ret) Brian (Janice); Douglas (Susie); daughter Pamela Popken-Harris (Lester Harris); grandsons Ben (Chris), Adam (Brittany), granddaughter Stephanie and great-grandson Milo.

L.J. was born on January 27th, 1930 in North Bend, Nebraska to George & Josephine Popken. He was raised on a farm in eastern Nebraska. As a youngster in the post-Depression 1930s, he spent many hours a week behind a team of horses and disc, harrow, rake, or corn planter. He also shared chores such as milking cows, feeding livestock, and chopping wood for the woodstove.  As a teen, L.J. joined 4-H and his livestock projects took him to numerous county and state fairs as well as the Chicago International Fair. His animals won a number of blue ribbons and championships. One of L.J.’s calf projects was crowned grand champion at the county fair, district fair, and at the statewide Ak-Sar-Ben Livestock Show in 0maha, Nebraska.

L.J.’s interests and achievements in agriculture led him in 1947 to the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, where he joined Farmhouse fraternity and the Block and Bridle Club. To earn tuition, he hitchhiked in the summers to Western Kansas to work in the harvest fields. He also worked at the College of Agriculture in the mornings and evenings to help pay for room and board. He graduated in under four years with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture with majors in Agricultural Economics and Animal Husbandry—despite taking a semester off to help back at the farm.

It was in his senior year that he met his wife, Lola; they were married in 1951 at St. Margaret Mary's Church in Omaha.  A short time after, while working for Swift & Co., he was drafted into the U.S. Army and attended basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas. L.J. was selected for Officer Candidate School at Fort Bliss, Texas. He then attended anti-aircraft artillery training and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, assigned to Camp Hanford, WA, the military installation protecting the Hanford Atomic Facility. At Camp Hanford, he was assigned as commander of Battery A of the 518th Anti-aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion with responsibility for guarding the nearby nuclear facility as well as a portion of the West Coast. Frequent training deployments took the battery and its 90 mm guns to the Yakima firing range 80 miles away where he was unreachable for weeks at a time.  After the Korean War, L.J. was released from active duty.

After his discharge in 1954, L.J. and Lola settled once again in Omaha where L.J. was reinstated in his career at Swift & Co., buying cattle in the Omaha Stockyards. In 1964 he moved his family, which now included two sons and a daughter, to Grand Island, NE where he continued his career by traveling long hours to commercial feedlots and farms to supply Swift’s new processing plant. He quickly gained a reputation for being able to judge beef as choice or prime while still on the hoof, which greatly enhanced the value of his procurement efforts and resulted in his promotion to Head of Procurement. In 1976 he relocated again, this time to the Minneapolis, MN area where he supplied livestock to multiple meat processing companies operating near the Minneapolis-St. Paul Livestock Market. In 1981 he founded The Minnesota Land & Cattle Co. and continued supplying processors in the area.  Before retiring in 1996 and moving to Colorado, L.J. estimated that he had purchased roughly 1.5 million head of cattle with a value of over $60 million.

In addition to his busy career in the livestock industry, L.J. earned a Nebraska residential real estate license and with Lola, co-founded Homestake Realty. He also spent over seven years as a volunteer for the Boy Scouts and was elected to several boards including District Finance Chairman managing fundraising, Advancement Chairman helping boys become Eagle Scouts, and District Chairman responsible for all scouting programs in a seven-county area. For his efforts he was awarded the prestigious Order of the Arrow. Never forgetting his rural roots, he still found time to serve other young people throughout Hall County NE as a 4-H judge.  

L.J.’s memorial service will be held at Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch on Aug. 14th at 10:00 am; a reception will immediately follow at the church. LJ will be buried with military honors alongside Lola the same day at Fort Logan Military Cemetery at 2:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Saint Andrew Church (https://gostandrew.com/) or the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (https://t2t.org/ ).

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