U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Keith Davis
ST. PAUL -- J. Keith Davis Sr., 81, of St. Paul died Tuesday, March 23, 1999, at the Howard County Community Hospital.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in St. Paul. The Rev. Larry Leper will officiate. Burial will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Morrill cemetery with Masonic rites by the Oasis Lodge 271 of Morrill.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Jacobsen Funeral Home in St. Paul.
Memorials are suggested to the church building fund or the donor's choice.
Mr. Davis was born on Nov. 20, 1917, at Morrill to Sidney and Blanche (Camp) Davis. He grew up in the Morrill area. He graduated from Mitchell High School in 1936. He began working for the Pathfinder Irrigation District at age 14 and farmed near Lyman after graduating from high school.
He married
Dorothy Garrett on Sept. 15, 1940, at Morrill. He continued farming at Lyman until 1946, when they homesteaded south of Hay Springs. He was president of the Mirage Irrigation District near Hay Springs. He moved to Sargent in 1963 and was superintendent of the Sargent Irrigation District. He moved to St. Paul in 1966 and was general manager for Loup Basin Irrigation District for Sargent and Farwell. He retired in 1984 and continued to live in St. Paul.
He was a consultant for Twin Loups Irrigation District after his retirement.
He was a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church and Masonic Lodge 82 A.F. and A.M. of St. Paul.
Survivors include his wife; a son, Donald of Broken Bow; a daughter, Kathy (Mrs. Larry) Davis-Ward of Chicago; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
He was preceded in death by one son, the Rev. James Keith Davis Jr.; and three brothers, Norman and two infant brothers.
Gerald Hatt
DANNEBROG -- Gerald D. Hatt, 73, of Dannebrog died Sunday, March 21, 1999, at his home.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Dannebrog. The Rev. Robert Carlson will officiate. Burial will be in Oakridge cemetery at Dannebrog with military honors at graveside.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Jacobsen Funeral Home in St. Paul.
Memorials are suggested to the family's choice.
Mr. Hatt was born on Feb. 19, 1926, at Dannebrog to Alton and Connie (Jackson) Hatt. He attended Dannebrog public schools and graduated from Dannebrog High School. He graduated from Dana College in Blair with a bachelor of arts degree in music.
He served in the U.S. Army from August 1944 to October 1946 and earned the rank of master sergeant. He also served during the Korean War.
He then attended Eastman School of Music at Rochester, N.Y., and received his master's degree in music from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
He taught at Dana College; Shelby, Iowa, Public School; Schuyler Public School; and Midworton High School
He then entered the TV repair and sales business in St. Paul with his uncle, Alex Larson. He returned to teaching music in 1974 at Central City and retired in 1978. He moved to Dannebrog in 1992.
He was a member of the Mickelson-Larkowski Post of St. Paul; Kiwanis Club of Dennison, Iowa; Liederkranz of Grand Island; and Grand Island City Singers, for which he directed, sang and accompanied from 1970 to 1994.
He was involved in the Grand Island Little Theatre and the Piccadilly Dinner Theatre.
He was a member of the Nebraska State Retired Teachers Association and served as accompaniment for numerous singing groups, Dannebrog Drama Clubs and had received a number of awards for talent for various clubs, organizations and community groups.
He received a Teacher of the Year award in 1986. He was a member of the German Singers of Grand Island.
Survivors include one daughter, Karen (Mrs. Lee) Lehn of Bellevue; one son, Gregory of Ralston; four grandchildren; two sisters, Phyllis (Mrs. Glen) Minne of Dannebrog and Arlene (Mrs. Charles) Hansen of McCook; and one brother, Russell of Grand Island.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Rodney.
Hazel Killian
ALBION -- Hazel Belle Killian, 92, of Albion died Monday, March 22, 1999, at Wolf Memorial Good Samaritan Center in Albion.
Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Levander Funeral Home in Albion. The Rev. Mary Avidano will officiate. Burial will be in Rose Hill cemetery at Albion.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Mrs. Killian was born on Jan. 20, 1907, on a farm south of Albion to Walter and Lula Belle (Houtz) Harris. She attended Boone County District 81 School south of Albion and Albion High School.
She married
George Anton Killian on Feb. 27, 1924, at her parents' home. They lived on farms south and west of Albion. She was a homemaker. She enjoyed gardening. She preserved and canned her produce and the meat they butchered.
She worked with her husband on their farm. She also raised chickens for their family and delivered them to customers in town.
She enjoyed making quilts and crocheting.
The couple retired and moved into Albion in 1973. She entered Wolf Memorial Good Samaritan Center on Sept. 24, 1997.
Mrs. Killian was a lifetime member of Roselma Church of Christ.
Survivors include two daughters, Elvina (Mrs. Warren) Schmadeke of Callender, Iowa, and Theola Froistad of Petersburg; seven grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and eight great-great-grandchildren.
Her husband died on Jan. 2, 1987. She also was preceded in death by one infant daughter and two brothers, John and Ralph Harris.
Phyllis Lainson
HASTINGS -- Phyllis Hurley Lainson, 79, of Hastings died Saturday, March 20, 1999, at her home.
Memorial services were at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church in Hastings with the Rev. Carl W. Utley officiating. There was no visitation.
Butler-Volland Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Memorials are suggested to Pooh Corner Day Care Center.
Mrs. Lainson was born on March 6, 1920, in Bandon, Ore., to Clarence and Vinnie Vivian (Van Valkenberg) Hurley. She lived in Oregon and California and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1941 with degrees in history and political science.
She was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of lieutenant senior grade.
She married
John Jennings Lainson in 1946 and moved to Hastings. Mrs. Lainson was active in politics, child development, education, the YMCA and the First Presbyterian Church.
She served on the Hastings Board of Education for 12 years and was president. She was chairwoman of the Adams County Republican Women and vice chairwoman of the Adams County Republican Central Committee. For 14 years, Mrs. Lainson was a member-at-large of the Republican State Executive Committee.
Mrs. Lainson was president of the Child Development Council of Adams County. She was principally responsible for founding Pooh Corner, the city's first day-care center, as well as the Emergency Protective Services Center for women and children at risk.
She and her husband served as co-country directors for the International Service Corps in Cairo, Egypt, from 1982 to 1984. Mrs. Lainson served on the Hastings City Council and was mayor in 1988.
More recently, she was a member of the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
Mrs. Lainson received the 1989 Woman of Achievement Award from the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, Hastings Chapter. She was honored in 1998 for outstanding service by the Child Development Council.
Mrs. Lainson was a member of PEQ, Chapter G.
Survivors include four children, Wrexie Lainson Bardaglio of Baltimore, John Jennings Lainson Jr., of Boulder, Colo., Vinnie Lainson Carney of the Plains, Va., and Peter Leo Lainson of Hastings; and 14 grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband.
Dorothy Niemeyer
WOOD RIVER -- Dorothy Niemeyer, 79, of Wood River, formerly of St. Paul, died Tuesday, March 23, 1999, at the Good Samaritan Center in Wood River.
Services are pending with Jacobsen Funeral Home in St. Paul.
