U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Raymond Grabowski
ORD -- Raymond Grabowski, 87, of Ord died Friday, Aug. 18, 2000, at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Ord. The Rev. Bob Rooney will officiate. Burial will be in the Ord City Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., with a 7 p.m. rosary, Sunday at Ord Memorial Chapel.
Jessica Stuthman
ST. EDWARD -- Jessica K. Stuthman, 18, of St. Edward, died Friday, Aug. 18, 2000, at Mercy Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa as the result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Pilger.
Services are pending at Miller-Levander Funeral Home in St. Edward.
'Rafe' Pfeifer
GOTHENBURG -- Raphael "Rafe" Pfeifer, 74, of Gothenburg died Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Gothenburg. The Rev. Don O'Brien will officiate. Graveside services will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday in St. Michael's cemetery in Spalding.
Visitation will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the church and from 9 a.m. to service time Monday at the church. A rosary service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday at the church.
A memorial has been established in his name.
Berryman Funeral Home in Cozad is in charge of the arrangements.
Mr. Pfeifer was born on Jan. 7, 1926, at Spalding to Vincent and Marie (Smiddy) Pfeifer. He graduated from Spalding Academy in 1944 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. After his discharge, he returned to Spalding to work for the Union Pacific Railroad.
He married
Theresa McKeigue on Nov. 27, 1969. They lived in Gothenburg. He took disability retirement from the railroad in 1971.
He was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He was Knight of the Year in 1983. He was also a member of the American Legion. He enjoyed spending time at the Gothenburg Senior Center and playing bingo.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Mike and Pat, both of Gothenburg; four grandchildren; two brothers, Johnny Pfeifer and Mike Pfeifer, both of Spalding; and two sisters, Kathleen Radcliff of Federal Way, Wash., and Joan Bohan of Portland, Ore.
He was preceded in death by one son, Rafe; one brother, Joseph; and one sister, Mary.
Edward Saunders
OMAHA -- Edward F. Saunders Jr., 75, of Omaha, a former teacher at Grand Island Senior High, died of a heart attack Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000, in Omaha.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Presbyterian UCC Church in Aurora. The Rev. Kevin Killion will officiate. Burial with military honors will be in the Aurora Cemetery.
Higby Mortuary in Aurora is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Saunders was born at Exeter to Edward and Ann (Yates) Saunders.
He fought in World War II as a liaison officer in the 91st Infantry and served during three campaigns on the Italian front.
He earned a bachelor of arts from Doane College and a master's degree from Kearney State College.
He married
Betty Grosvenor on Aug. 14, 1949, in Aurora. They just celebrated 51 years of marriage.
Mr. Saunders taught history and social studies at Grand Island Senior High from 1966 to his retirement in 1992. The Grand Island public schools selected him as a candidate for the Christa McAuliff Award.
He previously served as personnel director and chief accounting officer for St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lincoln and was co-owner of the Story County Credit Bureau in Ames, Iowa.
Gov. Kay Orr appointed Mr. Saunders to the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, where he served for three terms. He recently received his 50-year pin in the Franklin Masonic Lodge. He was active in Big Brothers, UNL Touchdown Club, Kiwanis Club, Sigma Phi Theta, Pi Kappa Delta, Trinity United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church of the Cross, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Trudy (Mrs. Bryan) Saunders Bredthauer of Omaha; and two grandsons.
Mary Wruble
SUTHERLAND -- Mary Lee Wruble, 50, of Sutherland, died Friday, Aug. 18, 2000, at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.
Memorial services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 at Adams and Swanson Chapel.
Those wishing to sign the register book may do so from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the funeral chapel.
Memorials are suggested to the Sutherland Public Library.
Mrs. Wruble was born Feb. 23, 1950, at Sutherland to Sterling G. "Jack" and Lois C. (Truitt) Alden at Sutherland.
She attended Sutherland Public Schools. As a teenager she worked at the Coop Cafe and at North Platte Packing Co. She later worked at the Bethesda Care Center in Sutherland.
She married
John R. Wruble on May 28, 1988, in Sutherland.
She was an avid reader of mysteries.
Survivors include her husband, one sister, Gloria (Mrs. Ron) Smith of North Platte and one brother, Orvel Alden of Lincoln.
She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Clifford Eugene.
John Haesler
PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. -- John D.W. Haesler, 83, of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., died July 30, 2000, in a California care home.
He was buried with military honors on Aug. 10 in Arlington National Cemetery.
Mr. Haesler was born on Aug. 27, 1916, at Loup City to John and Bertha (Dicks) Haesler. He graduated from Loup City High School in 1935.
He entered the National Guard in December 1939 while attending Kearney State Teachers College and retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1969 as a colonel.
He was placed on active duty in December 1940 and appointed an aviation cadet in April 1941. He took primary training at Sikeston, Mo., completed basic training at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and graduated from Advanced Flying School on Dec. 12, 1941, at Victoria, Texas.
He married
Gerrie Mellhaney on Dec. 12, 1941, at Victoria, Texas.
He led the 397th Fighter Squadron to the European theater in December 1943, when his squadron made the first operational landing on the Normandy beachhead. He logged 99 missions before leaving Europe in March 1945.
He attended command and staff school at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in 1946 and graduated with a bachelor of science from the University of Kansas. He served the Air Force at Selfridge Air Force Base; Lisbon, Portugal; and Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
He commanded the 1st Fighter Group at Selfridge Air Force Base, Mich., until 1960, when he became senior adviser to the California National Guard. He was chief of the Pacific Air Force Operations Assistance Team headquarters in Hawaii in August 1963 and assumed command of the 6146th Air Force Advisory Group in Seoul, South Korea, in 1966.
After he retired from the Air Force, they lived in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. He worked for Northrup Aircraft and later sold real estate.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Brent of Palos Verdes Estates and John Neal of Dallas; three grandsons; three sisters, Alice Elliott of Stevensville, Mont., and Leona Sides and Betty Wrede of Loup City.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Elmer; and three sisters, Helen Haesler, Hazel Goodwin and Anna Cramer.
