U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
'June' Hladky
LITCHFIELD -- Alice "June" Hladky, 79, of Litchfield died Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Services are pending at Rasmussen Mortuary in Ravenna.
Lucile Heftie
AURORA -- Lucile Heftie, 91, of Aurora died Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Stockham Community Church in Stockham. The Rev. Paul Nauman will officiate. Burial will be in the Stockham Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Higby Mortuary in Aurora.
Mrs. Heftie was born Sept. 7, 1909, on the family farm near Seward to Delbert H. and Grace G. (Palmer) Lyon. She grew up on Maple Side Farm, which her grandfather had homesteaded. She attended rural school and Seward High School. After graduation, she stayed at home to help her mother on the farm after her father died. She was the only one at home who had a driver's license.
She married
Arthur P. Heftie on Jan. 21, 1937, at her parents' home in Seward. When they were first married, they farmed the original Stockham farm northeast of Stockham. In 1948, they purchased a farm southwest of Stockham and lived there until they retired and moved to Aurora in 1965. Her husband died on Jan. 14, 1990.
She was a member of the United Methodist Church. She raised six children and helped her husband with the farm work. She helped with purebred Chester White Hogs and many breeds of show chickens. She also helped with 4-H and county fair exhibits as her children grew up.
Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Maxine and Wesley Shunkwiler of Fairfield; five sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Delbert and Karen Heftie of Wisner, Clifford and Dotti Heftie of Clay Center, Ronald Heftie of Plattsburgh, N.Y, Richard and Cheryl Heftie of Stockham and Dennis and Susan Heftie of Houston; 17 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a brother and sister-in-law, Clyde and Carol Lyon of Seward.
Other than her husband, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Alice Swanstrom and Bernice Lyon; a brother, Charles Lyon; a daughter-in-law, Arlyce Heftie; and a grandchild.
Joanne Spellman
54, Social worker
SHELTON -- Joanne L. Spellman, 54, of Shelton, died Monday, Aug. 13, 2001 at the BryanLGH East Medical Center in Lincoln.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Grace Fellowship Church in Kearney. The Rev. Bruce Demmel will officiate. Burial will be in the Shelton Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Godberson Mortuary in Gibbon.
Memorials are suggested to the Shelton Emergency Unit Fund.
Mrs. Spellman was born on Oct. 3, 1946, in Kearney to R. Glenn and E. Marie (Vest) Keller. She grew up and received her education in Kearney.
She married
Fred Spellman on July 14, 1962, in Winner, S.D. The couple lived in Shelton. She had been employed by the S.A.F.E. Center in Kearney from 1988 to 2000 and had recently worked at St. Monica's Center for Women in Grand Island.
She was an active member of the Grace Fellowship Church of Kearney.
Survivors include her husband of Shelton; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Troy and Denise Spellman of Shelton and Jim Spellman of Grand Island; two daughters and sons-in-law; Tammy and Gary Schroeder and Sheri and Allen Lyons, all of Shelton; nine grandchildren; two brothers, Neil of Minden and Harold of Richmond, Va.; and four sisters, Bonnie McFarland of Kirksville, Mo., Helen McLemore of Palestine, Texas, Karen Mann of Exira, Iowa, and Jean Wood of Gibbon.
She was preceded in death by her parents and an infant sister.
Freeman Rowse
BURWELL -- Freeman E. Rowse, 84, of Burwell died Aug. 14, 2001, at his home north of Burwell.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Burwell Baptist Church in Burwell. The Revs. David Koenigsberg, Kevin Murray and Randy Dockweiler will officiate. Burial will be in Cottonwood cemetery in Burwell.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Hitchcock Funeral Home.
Memorials are suggested to the Burwell Baptist Church or the Cedar Creek Bible Church.
Verna Madsen
WINDSOR, Calif. -- Verna M. Madsen, 80, of Windsor, Calif., died Aug. 8, 2001, at her daughter's home in Windsor.
Memorials are suggested to Nancy Madsen for Verna Madsen Fund in Windsor.
Mrs. Madsen was born Sept. 11, 1920, at Lincoln to Floyd E. and Florence E. Umberger. She graduated from Lincoln High School and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She was a former officer of Umberger's Mortuary and Umberger-Sheaff Mortuaries, Minden farmer's wife, homemaker and community servant. She was diabetic double amputee.
In Sonoma County, Calif., she was statistician for FISH, Friends In Service Here, a program to feed the hungry; a member of Advisory Council for IHSS in Home Support Services; and embroidered Bible quilts.
She was a former active member of UNL Alumni, Danish Sisterhood, Lincoln Grace United Methodist Church secretary, Minden United Methodist Sunday School superintendent, Ecumenical Group in United Church Women, Nebraska Polled Hereford Association, Minden Order of Eastern Star officer and state Order of Eastern Star secretary.
She volunteered four hours a day four times a week for three years at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Grand Island while her husband, Andrew, was hospitalized there.
Survivors include four daughters and sons-in-law, Nancy and Lee B. Madsen of Windsor, Margaret and Bill Coleman of Portales, N.M., Ellen and Brian McBride of Glendale, Ariz., and Florence "Betsy" Flynn of Minden; 10 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and three sisters and brothers-in-law, Elsie S. Teague and Betty and Roy A. Sheaff, all of Lincoln and Lois and Darold Rohrbaugh of Estes Park, Colo.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands, Donald E. Burke and Andrew E. Madsen; son-in-law, Mike Flynn; a grandchild; a great-grandchild; and a sister, Carol Upson.
'Billie' Willhoft
ST. LOUIS -- Roberta "Billie" Willhoft died Feb. 28, 2001.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Christ Episcopal Church in Central City. Burial of her ashes will follow in the Central City Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the Central City Library.
Mrs. Willhoft was born in 1910. She married
Loren Willhoft of Central City. They moved to St. Louis in the 1940s. Her husband died in 1996.
They were donors to Central City Library, provided substantial support for the library's capital improvement and were anonymous supporters over a number of years to needy students at Hastings College in the form of tuition scholarships.
Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, John and Elaine Willhoft and Joe and Suzy Willhoft; five grandchildren; a great-grandchild; a brother-in-law, Neil Willhoft; and four sisters-in-law, Eula McHargue of Central City, Hildur Willhoft, Alice Willhoft and Anna M. Willhoft.
Emma Fonner Corey
Emma Fonner Corey, 92, of Grand Island died Sunday, Jan. 6, 2002, at Tiffany Square Care Center.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Pauls Lutheran Church. The Rev. Joel Schroeder will officiate. Private burial will in Grand Island City Cemetery.
There will be no visitation.
Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorials are suggested to the donor's choice, in lieu of flowers.
Mrs. Corey was born Sept. 12, 1909, in Schuyler to Herman and Julia (Miller) Ruphoff. She moved with her family to Salt Lake City, Utah, where her father was a Lutheran minister. In 1914, they returned to Grand Island. She graduated from Grand Island Senior High in 1928.
She married
Gus Fonner on April 30, 1940. Her husband died Dec. 17, 1959. She lived at the O.K. Farm until it was destroyed by the tornadoes of June 3, 1980. O.K. Farm was the original Fonner homestead. It was located on the South Locust strip from the Driesbach's corner to Stolley Park Road. The east part of the property became the current Fonner Park complex.
Following her husband's death, she worked with Fonner Park and Stuhr Museum to establish and build the Fonner Rotunda at the current Stuhr Museum. Fonner Rotunda is open to the public. It is the home of the Fonner collection of artifacts on early Hall County life.
She later married
Joe Corey on Dec. 4, 1964. The couple operated O.K. Thoroughbred Farm as a successful thoroughbred racing and breeding business until his death. Her husband died June 30, 1987.
She was elected to the Fonner Park board of directors in 1979. She was the first woman to serve on the board and had been an active supporter of the board of directors for 40 years. She was named the YWCA Woman of Distinction in 1995. She was a member of St. Pauls Lutheran Church for 78 years.
Survivors include her nephew, Millard "Bill" Meyer of Marina Del Ray, Calif.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands and three sisters, Helen Meyer, Laura Mattingly and Paula Ruphoff.
