U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Leonard Luebke
FULLERTON -- Leonard Edward Luebke, 58, of Fullerton died Friday, Jan. 15, 1999, at Fullerton Manor.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island. The Rev. William Voelker will officiate. Burial will be at Grand Island City Cemetery. Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials are suggested to the Huntington's disease Society of America Inc.
Mr. Luebke was born Nov. 18, 1940, at Milltown, S.D., to Edward and Gertrude (Guericke) Luebke. The Luebke family moved to Grand Island in 1943 where he attended Trinity Lutheran School.
After graduation from Grand Island Senior High School in 1958 he served in the United States Air Force, where he worked in the electronics field and later in civilian life worked as a Certified Public Accountant.
He married
Lorraine Unverzagt on Sept. 28, 1968, in Torrance, Calif. They were divorced in 1985.
He enjoyed travel to various parts of the world and also working on cards.
Survivors include three sisters, Lauretta (Mrs. Woody) Tauscher of Colorado Springs, Colo., Esther (Mrs. Gary) Schnase of Grand Island and Martha (Mrs. Ron) Jacobsen of Reedpoint, Mont., and three brothers, Laurence of Collbran, Colo., Leroy of Gordon and Mark of Grand Island.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Naomi Evans and Donna Gregg.
Anna Peterson
GREELEY -- Anna Peterson, 96, of Greeley died Friday, Jan. 15, 1999, at the Greeley Care Home.
Services are pending at T.J. Finn and Sons Funeral Home in Greeley.
Violet Vardaman
FULLERTON -- Violet May Vardaman, 85, of Aurora, formerly of St. Paul, died Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999, at the Hamilton Manor in Aurora.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Giltner United Methodist Church. The Rev. Paul Nauman will officiate. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. in the Rose Hill cemetery at Palmer. Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Higby Mortuary in Aurora.
Mrs. Vardaman was born June 5, 1913, at Palmer to Fred and Clara (Starkey) Adams. She grew up and received her education in the Palmer area.
On Sept. 27, 1930, she married
L. Earl Cook of Cushing. They spent most of their married
life in the Palmer, Wolbach and Cushing area. Mr. Cook preceded her in death on Sept. 19, 1965.
On Dec. 24, 1966, she married
Samuel R. Vardaman. They lived in Farwell and later moved to St. Paul. Mr. Vardaman preceded her in death on Nov. 17, 1991.
She was a member of the Palmer United Methodist Church. She worked at various schools and churches in the St. Paul and Farwell areas. She was very instrumental in Sunday School, Girl Scouts and 4-H.
Survivors include her four sons, Gale Dean Cook of Lincoln, Charles Duane Cook of Madison, Wis., Robert LeRoy Cook of Viola, Ill., and Jerry Annan Cook of Andalusia, Ill; three daughters, Mary Ann Sherman of Lexington, N.C., Norma Jean Green of Grand Island and Kay Lynne Lindquist of Giltner; one sister, LaVonne Anderson; 28 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
Besides her husbands she was preceded in death by a grandson.
Skylar Elznic
YORK -- Skylar Sheridan Elznic, 16 days, of York died Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999, at Children's Hospital in Omaha.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Beaver Crossing United Methodist Church. Rev. Cindy Karges will officiate. Burial will be in Beaver Crossing Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Lauber-Moore Funeral Home in Beaver Crossing. Memorials are suggested to the family.
Skylar was born Dec. 29, 1998, at Seward to Wendy and Jason Elznic.
Survivors include her parents of York; a sister, Alexa Paige; a brother, Alexander David; grandparents, Phil and Vickie Kufeldt of Clarks, Kenny and Carol White of Beaver Crossing, Timothy Elznic of Geneva, Debra Sieber of Geneva; great-grandmothers, Verna White of Beaver Crossing, Verna Eikenhorst of York, Daphne Kufeldt of Central City; great-grandfathers, Joe Eikenhorst of Fairfield, Ill., Donald Elznic of Geneva.
She was preceded in death by two great-grandfathers.
Evelyn Leeper
OGALLALA -- Evelyn D. Leeper, 66, of Ogallala died Sunday, Jan. 3, 1999, at the Ogallala Community Hospital.
Services were held Jan. 7 at Ogallala United Methodist Church. Burial was in the Fort McPherson National cemetery at Maxwell.
A memorial has been established.
Mrs. Leeper was born Nov. 12, 1932, at Cushing to Jens L. and Bertha May (Castle) Nielsen. She grew up and attended school in the Cushing area.
She married
Thomas Leeper on May 5, 1951, at St. Paul. The couple farmed in eastern Nebraska before moving to Ogallala in 1963. She was employed for 27 years at the Ogallala Community Hospital as a nurse's aide. She enjoyed gardening.
Survivors include four daughters, Roxie (Mrs. Mark) McBroom of Pauls Valley, Okla., Susan Jones of Ogallala, Peggy (Mrs. David) Navarrette of Ogallala and Connie (Mrs. Mike) Saunders of Ogallala; son, Randy of Ogallala; four brothers, Carl of Wolbach, Paul of Thornton, Colo., Bert of St. Paul and Jens of Arkansas; three sisters, Elsie Wondercheck of Fullerton, Edna Gay of St. Paul and Martha Bahensky of Palmer; 18 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband.
John Buettner
John L. Buettner, 42, of 904 N. Wheeler died Saturday, Jan. 23, 1999, of natural causes at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Grand Island. The Rev. Marty Egging will officiate. Burial will be in the Grand Island City Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m., with a rosary at 8 p.m., Monday at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to the family.
Survivors include his mother, Roseanne Buettner; one brother, Thomas of North Platte; and two sisters, Patti Buettner and Pamela Stout, both of Grand Island.
He was preceded in death by his father, Frederick Buettner.
Donna Lenz
Donna J. Lenz, 73, of 2526 W. Fifth died Monday, Jan. 25, 1999, at her home.
Services are pending with Kleine Funeral Home.
Willa Scudder
Willa Virginia "Scud" Scudder, 76, of Grand Island died Saturday, Jan. 23, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home. The Rev. C. Roger Nelson will officiate. Private burial will be in the Kearney Cemetery.
Visitation with a closed casket will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to the YWCA of Grand Island or the Lake Ericson Garden Club in Ericson.
She was born on July 15, 1922, at Doniphan to Leroy Guy and Gertrude (Otto) Scudder. She grew up and was educated in Sumner, where she graduated from high school. She graduated from Kearney State College with degrees in physical education and music.
She taught physical education and coached at Sumner, Kearney and Grand Island Senior High School, where she retired after 25 years. She started the Girls Athletic Association at Grand Island Senior High.
Survivors include one brother, Franklin Scudder of Sun City, Ariz.; and two sisters, Frances Hollister of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Ruth Sisler of Fort Collins, Colo.
She was preceded in death by one sister, Lucille Scudder.
