U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Ruth Wersta
Ruth R. Wersta, 92, of Grand Island died Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998, at Community Care of America in Grand Island.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home. The Rev. Jocelyn Tupper will officiate. Burial will be at 2 p.m. in Wyuka cemetery at Lincoln.
There will be no visitation.
Memorials are suggested to Trinity United Methodist Church or Stuhr Museum.
Mrs. Wersta was born on July 4, 1905, at Oakland to Charles P. and Helen K. (Gettert) Lang. She grew up and was educated in Oakland. She graduated from Fairmont Public School in 1922.
She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University for two years and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1927. She then began teaching at Walnut Junior High School.
She married
Alex J. Wersta on Dec. 28, 1945, at Grand Island. The couple lived in Grand Island, where she continued teaching at Walnut Junior High. She retired in 1971.
She worked in the Stuhr Museum collections department from 1973 to 1986, accepting gifts, indexing, storing and preserving artifacts.
She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church and Order of the Eastern Star No. 148 in Lincoln.
Survivors include cousins.
She was preceded in death by one brother, Eugene R. Lang.
Phyllis Wright
Phyllis J. Wright, 76, of Grand Island died Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. C. Roger Nelson will officiate. Burial will be in Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home.
'Art' Burkhardt
PALMER -- Arthur "Art" Burkhardt, 90, of Palmer died Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998, at Community Care of America in Palmer.
Services are pending at Greenway-Palmer Funeral Home in Palmer.
Esther Filkin
WOOD RIVER -- Esther M. Filkin, 97, of Wood River died Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998, at St. Francis Skilled Care.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Apfel Funeral Home in Wood River with the Rev. Curt Holzworth officiating. Burial will be in Wood River Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to the Wood River Rescue Unit.
Mrs. Filkin was born on March 20, 1900, in Plymouth, W.Va., to William C. and Myrtle O. (Jones) Bennett. Her mother married
August F. Bloom in 1902. The family lived on a ranch in Banner County until 1905, when they moved to a farm north of Wood River.
She attended District 33 School and completed the eighth grade. In the 1920s, she raised geese for show purposes, winning top prizes at national fairs and expositions.
She married
Royce R. Filkin on March 11, 1919. He died on Aug. 22, 1919.
She married
William W. Filkin on July 26, 1923. They moved to Wood River in 1940. He died on April 11, 1965.
Her hobbies were her cats, gardening and hooking rugs. She worked in the cafeteria at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant.
Survivors include one son, Wayne of Grand Island; five daughters, Royce Gilbert of Costa Mesa, Calif., Arline Otto of Grand Island, June Smith of Garden Grove, Calif., Joy (Mrs. Gerald) Holtzen of Aurora and Helen (Mrs. Gerald) Skeen of Wood River; 15 grandchildren; 39 great-grandchildren; 23 great-great-grandchildren; and one sister, Charlotte (Mrs. Virgil) Burmood of Lincoln, Calif.
In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by one son, one daughter, one granddaughter, two great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandson, three brothers and one sister.
Esther Hanson
STROMSBURG -- Esther P. Hanson, 93, of Stromsburg, formerly of Ceresco, died Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1998, at Midwest Covenant Home in Stromsburg.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Stromsburg Evangelical Covenant Church. The Rev. Bob Johnson will officiate. Burial will be at 1 p.m. in Friedhem cemetery at rural Ceresco.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Anderson-Dodds-Palmer Funeral Home in Stromsburg.
She was born on July 5, 1904, at Ceresco to Edward C. and Hulda J. (Martinson) Hanson. She graduated from Ceresco High in 1924.
She then moved to Princeton, Ill. She worked at the Covenant Children's Home there until 1940, when she moved to Los Angeles and worked as a dental assistant.
She retired and moved to Ceresco in 1971. She moved to Stromsburg in 1984.
She was a member of the First Covenant Church.
Survivors include one brother, Clifford Hanson of Porterville, Calif.; and two sisters, Edna Bachman of Siloam Springs, Ark., and Bernice Young of Marietta, Ga.
Kading Jacobson
ALBION -- Kading L. Jacobson, 91, of Albion died Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998, at the Boone County Health Center in Albion.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church in Albion. The Rev. Brian Bergum and intern Annette Minderman will officiate. Burial will be in Salem cemetery at rural St. Edward.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at Levander Funeral Home in Albion.
'Bill' Kemp
HASTINGS -- Warren "Bill" Kemp, 71, of Hastings died Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998, at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital in Hastings.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Brand-Wilson Chapel in Hastings. The Rev. Bill Liddell will officiate. Burial will be in Cedar View cemetery at Doniphan.
Visitation will be from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to service time Saturday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to the family or the donor's choice.
Mr. Kemp was born on Dec. 24, 1926, at Mullen to Grover and Zera (Johnson) Kemp.
He married
Lois Burr on Aug. 28, 1949. He lived in the Grand Island area from 1956 to 1994 before moving to Hastings.
He was a heavy equipment operator.
He was a gold star father with the American Legion and a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Grand Island.
Survivors include his wife; three sons, Glenn of Hastings and Randy and Mark, both of Grand Island; four grandchildren; one sister, Mildred Lozier of Texarkana, Texas; and two brothers, Richard of Valley and Jack of Sargent.
He was preceded in death by one son, Richard.
Maxine Main
BROKEN BOW -- Maxine F. Main, 76, of Broken Bow died Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998, at Jennie Melham Hospital in Broken Bow.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Govier Brothers Chapel in Broken Bow. The Rev. Jim Stark will officiate. Graveside services will be at a later date in Chewelah, Wash.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
