Howard Colon (1882-1953)

Public Records

 * Hamburg Reporter
 * 5-14-1953 - Howard Colon, 70, was Postmaster 19 years. Final tribute was paid Tuesday afternoon to Howard Colon, prominent businessman and public figure in Hamburg for more than 34 years.  Mr. Colon died Sunday after an illness of about a month.  Funeral services here held at the Johnson Funeral home at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday with the Rev. John Maze, former Presbyterian church pastor here but now in Essex, in charge.  Pall bearers were David Sjulin, Dr. R.C. Danley, Walter Johnson, Harmon Harmes, Harold L Martin and Ralph James.  Mrs. Harold S Martin furnished music.  Internment was in the Hamburg Cemetery.  Masonic rites were tendered.  He is survived by a daughter, Sara Louise, in the home and a son, Howard Jr., now in the armed forces.  Mrs. Colon preceded him in death in 1935. There are two sisters, Mrs. Fred Arnold and Mrs. Myrtle Butler, both of Hamburg, and three grandchildren.  Three brothers are deceased.  Extremely active in business and in the affairs of his community, Mr. Colon was postmaster from 1933 until his retirement last year.  He managed and owned the Colonial Theatre here from when he had it built in 1919 until recent weeks.  He was a lifelong resident of Hamburg, except for a short time in Omaha and Louisiana.  Burn at Hamburg June 28 1882, he was the son of Oren Parker Colon and Martha Radley Colon.  His education was in the Hamburg schools where he graduated in 1898, and at the Spaulding Brothers Commercial College at Kansas City.  IN 1906 he married Cliffe Loretta Hydinger of Kansas City.  Before returning to Hamburg, Mr. Colon held a variety of positions.  From 1899 to 1904 he was in the commissary department of the Swartz Lumber Co. at Swartz, La., and from 1904 until 1906 worked with his father on the Hamburg farm.  From 1906 until 1912 he was connected with the Courtney Grocery Co., in Omaha, then owned and operated a general store at Tiffany Springs, Mo., for a year before returning to Omaha.  In 1918 he returned to Hamburg and started building the Colonial Theatre, completed and opened in 1921.  He operated it continuously until his health became bad about a month ago.  A life long Democrat, Mr. Colon was appointed Hamburg's temporary postmaster in 1933, and assigned the job permanently in 1934.  He retired at 70 years of age last June 23.  Active in clubs and civic organizations, Mr. Colon was also a member of the Iowa-Nebraska Theatre Owners Association.  He was a key man of the Fremont County chapter of the National Association of Postmasters, a past member of BPOE at Omaha, a member of Kiwanis, AF&AM 253 and a member of the Presbyterian church.