Originally published to facebook.com/NorthPlattePL on May 6, 2022.
Welcome back to another Facebook Friday History!
Richard “Dick” Arthur Neve was born on June 2, 1905 to Samuel and Lucinda (Drew) Neve in Merna, Nebraska. Dick’s father, Samuel was married twice and he had four children with his first wife, and THIRTEEN (13) children with his second wife, Lucinda; Dick was the youngest child.
In 1905, the Neve family moved to Cliff, Nebraska, and in 1920 they moved to Ravenna, Nebraska. By 1930, Dick moved to North Platte when he was 25 years old, and opened up a barber shop, Dick’s Barber Shop, located at 808 North Jeffers Street.
In his spare time, Dick started up his own band called the Dick Neve Orchestra. They were popular in the North Platte area and held dances frequently from 1939-1959.
Dick married three women. On September 5, 1925, he married his first wife, Ruth Vivian (Peaker) (1908-1971) and they had two children together:
- Leroy Richard Neve (1926-2014); and
- Betty Jeanette Neve (1927-2015).
Ruth and Dick were married approximately 25 years, the longest marriage of all of his wives.
Sometime around 1950, Dick and Ruth get a divorce. Ruth remarried Carl Perkins and they lived out their lives near Kelso, Washington. Ruth passed away in 1971 and is buried in Washington.
On May 31, 1952, Dick married his second wife, Betty M. Felty in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1955, Betty M. Neve asked for a divorce from Dick. It was granted in 1956.
On July, 10, 1959, Dick remarried his third wife, Rose Munsinger (1903-1980) in Pennington, South Dakota. Dick and Rose are buried together in the North Platte Cemetery. Dick passed away on February 18, 1968 in his home in North Platte, Nebraska.
If the name or person, Dick Neve seems “familiar” to you, it could be because the Lincoln County Historical Museum has the Dick’s Barber shop in the Museum village. Be sure to take a look at the barbershop photographs attached to this post. There is a great photograph from 1960 of Dick cutting his brother Bill’s hair. And if you want to reminisce further, be sure to stop out at the Lincoln County Historical Museum this summer!
Thank you for reading!
#NPHistoryArchives
