U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Allan Land
KEARNEY -- Allan M. Land, 68, of Kearney died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003, at St. Luke's Good Samaritan Center in Kearney.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Godberson Mortuary in Gibbon. The Rev. Dean Pofahl will officiate. Family graveside services will be held at a later date in Kinsley, Kan.
Mr. Land was born Sept. 28, 1934, in Winslow, Ark., to Allan and Myrtle (Hickman) Land.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Winnie Steinkuehler.
Survivors of the immediate family include three sons and daughters-in-law, Wayne and Lisa of Dodge City, Mike and Stacy of Harlowton, Mont., and Tim and Billie of Cozad; three daughters and sons-in-law, Beverly and Dan Blackburn of Kearney, Mary Pointdexter and Eddie Gutierrez of San Antonio, Texas and Betty and Randy Smith of Kearney; and three brothers, John of San Jose, Calif., W.L. "Doug" of Milford, N.J., and Coy of Blytheville, Ariz.
Sallimae Wroblewski
KEARNEY -- Sallimae Wroblewski, 90, of Kearney, formerly of Ravenna, died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Ravenna. The Rev. Rod Pruss will officiate. Burial will be in the Highland Park cemetery at Ravenna.
Christian wake services will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the church.
Rasmussen Mortuary in Ravenna is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Wroblewski was born Nov. 11, 1912, in Sherman County to Steve and Antonia (Herman) Franckowiak.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank.
Survivors of the immediate family include three sons, Donald "Joe" of Denver and Frank Jr. and Mark, both of Ravenna, and a daughter, Joan Harris of Kearney.
Also surviving are eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Wroblewski was educated in Litchfield.
She married
Frank Wroblewski on Feb. 14, 1938, at Ansley. They made their home on a farm near Mason City until 1944, when they moved to a farm near Loup City. In 1959, they moved to Ravenna. Mrs. Wroblewski owned and operated Midway Cafe from 1967 to 1973. She had resided at Mount Carmel Home in Kearney for the last year.
Mrs. Wroblewski was preceded in death by six brothers and four sisters.
Memorials are suggested to the Carmelite Sisters at Mount Carmel.
Clayton Robb
DONIPHAN -- Clayton L. Robb, 95, of Doniphan died Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003, at Tiffany Square in Grand Island.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Doniphan United Methodist Church. Burial will be in the Cedarview cemetery in Doniphan.
All Faiths Funeral Home in Grand Island is in charge of arrangements.
Warren Hamer
JUNIATA -- Warren Keith Hamer, 54, of Juniata died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003, at home.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Butler-Volland Chapel. The Rev. Ken Christensen will officiate. Burial with military rites will be in the Juniata Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, with family present from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until service time Wednesday at the church.
Butler-Volland Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Hamer was born June 21, 1948, in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Orvil and Faye (Cargill) Hamer.
Survivors in the immediate family include his wife, Kathryn; two daughters, Desirae Lewellyn and Kendra Hamer, both of Juniata; two brothers and a sister-in-law, Harlan Hamer of San Antonio and William and Judy Hamer of Scotia; and his father of Scotia.
Raymond Vettel
GOLDEN VALLEY, ARIZ. -- Raymond Milton Vettel, 75, of Golden Valley, Ariz., formerly of Aurora, died on Monday, Feb. 10, 2003, at his home.
Services will be at 7 p.m. Friday at the Higby-McQuiston Chapel in Aurora.
Mr. Vettel was born on Feb. 6, 1928, in Ash-tabula, Ohio, to Milton E. and Helen Kusick (Haskins) Vettel.
Survivors of the immediate family include five sons and daughters-in-law, David and Crystal Vettel of Mount Zion, Ill., Raymond (Lou) and Shari Vettel of Aurora, Kenny and Dana Vettel of Phillips, and Mike and Ann Vettel of Aurora, Danny Vettel of Akron, Ohio; three daughters and son-in-law, Rebecca Schaffert and her fiancé, Gary Jones of Hickman, Debbie (Vettel) Morgan of Lakewood, Ohio, and Chris (Vettel) Buxa and Gary Buxa of North Ridgeville, Ohio; three brothers, Jim Vettel of Carlsbad, Calif., Al Vettel of Grafton, Ohio, and Bill Vettel of Fairfield, Texas; and three sisters and brothers-in-law, Marge and Ed Tatum of Carlsbad, Calif., Irene and Web Gates of Elyria, Ohio, and Mary and Bob Sharp of Mesa, Ariz.
Also surviving are 16 grandchildren, Todd Vettel of Camp Pendleton, Calif., Timothy and Trevor Vettel of Mount Zion, Ill., Jacki and Joshua Vettel of Aurora, Jessica and Tyler Vettel of Phillips, Dalton, Bailey and Hunter Vettel of Aurora, Vincent and Jordan Schaffert of Hickman, Autom and Aimee Morgan of Lakewood, Ohio, and Marla and Eric Buxa of North Ridgeville, Ohio; and cousins in Ashtabula, Ohio, Mace family and family of Louis Vettel, Jr.
Mr. Vettel grew up on a small farm outside of Ashtabula, Ohio, where he attended Plymouth schools in his early years and then Ashtabula High School. He sailed on the Great Lakes in the Merchant Marines and then joined the U.S. Army. Ray served in World War II, seeing action throughout Europe and Russia. He was a veteran who belonged to the American Legion in Aurora and then to the Legion in Kingman, Ariz. Ray was also a member of the V.F.W.
Ray worked in the transportation industry most of his life after returning from the war. He was owner/operator for years and then was a shop foreman in Norfolk for a trucking company. He moved to Aurora with his family in 1971, where he was a dispatcher for Coldway Food Express. In 1972, he built a shop and offices in Aurora in partnership with Coldway. The business was known as Vet-Co.
Ray retired from trucking in 1986, when he started a business rebuilding starters and alternators. The business was called Del-Ray. He later moved to Golden Valley, Ariz.
Ray enjoyed fishing, camping, race cars and rebuilding almost everything. His latter years were spent visiting with his children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; infant son, John; granddaughter, Tessa; and ex-wife, Phyllis.
Delbert Grotz
Delbert Grotz, 82, of Grand Island died Monday, Dec. 16, 2002, at Beverly Healthcare at Lakeview.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home. The Rev. Jerry Quandt will officiate. Burial will be in the Grand Island City Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Mr. Grotz was born June 23, 1920, in Merrick County to Martin and Mary (Mohr) Grotz.
Survivors of the immediate family include is wife, Bernice (Kinney) Grotz; two sons, Richard and Gary Grotz, both of Grand Island; two daughters and a son-in-law, Sharon Hayes of Humboldt and Karen and Bill Shorb of Mississippi.
Additional survivors include five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, a great-great-grandchild and a brother-in-law, James Kinney of Greeley.
He grew up and attended school in the St. Libory area.
He married
Viola Reher in 1944. She died in 1953.
Mr. Grotz drove a cattle truck for several years for Lawrence Dickman. He was employed by the Redman Trailer Company for 13 years. He then worked for Keith McCurry at Grand Island Lawn Care for 10 years.
He married
Bernice Kinney in 1981 in Grand Island.
After he retired, he remained active by doing lawn care for an additional 10 years.
Mr. Grotz enjoyed gardening, flowers and polka dancing, and he was very good at fixing anything.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Viola; his parents; two brothers, Arthur and Arnold Grotz; and a sister-in-law, Viola.
Memorials are suggested to the donor's choice.
