Airport expert to retire Friday

It's only fitting that Larry Hobbs and the Central Nebraska Regional Airport's old front-end loader are both ending their time at the airport this week.

Hobbs will retire Friday after 34 years at the airport. The loader has been around almost as long and was shipped out Tuesday morning.

Hobbs knew how to maneuver that loader like no one else, said Dan Tuchenhagen, a member of Hobbs' maintenance crew.

"He can make that thing sing like a violin, I think," Tuchenhagen said.

Of course, Hobbs will be missed a whole lot more than the loader. In his time working on and overseeing the airport's maintenance, Hobbs has amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the site that can't be replaced.

That knowledge came in especially handy when the airport underwent an extensive renovation several years ago, said Harold Rosenkotter, a member of the airport's board since 1996.

Hobbs was able to explain not only how the details of that project fit with the infrastructure in the airport's original plans, but how the old plans differed from what actually ended up under the airport's surface, Rosenkotter said.

"Larry's input in that was invaluable," he added. "That historical perspective will be missed."

Hobbs' historical perspective began in 1974 when he was hired onto the airport's maintenance crew. A Grand Island native and Vietnam veteran, Hobbs had been working for a company out of one of the airport's hangars, then helped at the restaurant on-site when that company folded.

Hobbs was just looking for a paycheck at the time. But he loved the people he worked with, and he ended up loving the job, too.

Along the way, he was promoted to his current job of operations manager and served three times as interim executive director while the board looked for a replacement.

He also soaked up everything he could about the airport.

Rosenkotter said Hobbs knew the airport well enough as an interim director to take a lot of weight off the board's shoulders as it went through a potentially stressful time.

"It was easy for him to work on day-to-day management activities so the board didn't have to take the place of the executive director," Rosenkotter said.

He was offered the director's job permanently at one point but turned it down, saying he preferred the longevity of his job to the typically fast turnover of executive directors.

The job he kept gave him plenty to do, though. He oversees 27 buildings and 2,500 acres, including painting more than 2 miles of runways and mowing a couple dozen football fields' worth of grass.

"It's never-ending," Hobbs said of the mowing. "You get done, and it's time to start over."

Hobbs handles it all with easygoing charm, said Doug Brown, who's been shadowing Hobbs for two years to succeed him as operations manager.

"He's probably the best boss I've ever had in more than 40 years of work experience," Brown said.

Hobbs continually goes above and beyond to take care of his employees, Brown said. When some workers went on a trip for work, he made sure they had plenty of pop, tea and snacks.

"He's just one of those magnet kind of guys," Brown said. "Everybody that meets him is drawn to him and likes him."

Now Hobbs will leave the airport's facilities in Brown's hands. It's a tough act to follow, but Brown said Hobbs is leaving the airport is such good shape that anyone could take care of it.

At 61, Hobbs said he's spent enough Nebraska winters staying up all night at the airport, watching for enough snow to bring out the snowplow.

He'll relish spending his winter nights at home, watching the snow fall from his living room.

But he still can't quite give up the airport: He's running unopposed for a term on the board that starts in January.

"I'd just hate to walk away from the airport after 34 years, cold turkey," Hobbs said with a grin.