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Ernest 'Ernie' Brakeman
BROKEN BOW - Ernest "Ernie" Brakeman, 80, died July 8, 2001, at his home in Broken Bow.
He was born Sept. 5, 1920, to Emir and Grace Henman Brakeman at Broken Bow, where he lived his entire life.
On March 3, 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and spent most of his service in the South Pacific war zone aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Bedleauwood.
On Aug. 6, 1944, he married Thelma Ballenger in Anselmo.
Following his discharge from the Navy, he was a mechanic and shop foreman for the Ford Motor Company for 35 years. He was later employed by the City of Broken Bow for 10 years. He worked at the power plant and retired in 1985.
Mr. Brakeman enjoyed the outdoors, gardening and pitching horseshoes with his family. He was a loyal Husker football fan.
Surviving him is his wife; a daughter, Judy (Ted) Baillie of Broken Bow; three sons, Gary (Tiny) of Colona, Ill., Dennis (Deb) of Broken Bow and Rodney (Mary) of Americus, Kan.; nine grandchildren; two stepgrandchildren; four great-grandchildren; five step-great-grandchildren; a sister; and many nieces, nephews and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a grandson, a sister and two brothers.
Memorials may be given to the Custer County Hospice.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Govier Brothers Mortuary chapel in Broken Bow with Bob Woodward officiating.
Burial will be in the Broken Bow Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at Govier Brothers Mortuary in Broken Bow.
Lucas Shane Hald
HYANNIS - Lucas Shane Hald, 18, of Hyannis died July 7, 2001, at Hyannis.
He was born Jan. 9, 1983, in Kearney to Donald and Pearl Vernon Hald. He attended school in Ravenna until 1988, when he moved to Hyannis to live with his father. He graduated from Hyannis High School May 13, 2001.
Mr. Hald was employed by the Sandhills Amoco Station in Hyannis through high school and during the summer. He was planning to attend Hastings Tech in the fall.
Survivors include his parents, Pearl Young of Ravenna and Donald Hald of Hyannis; a sister, Brandy Hald of Kearney; and grandparents, Marvin and Virginia Vernon and Shirley Jordan, all of Ravenna, and Richard Hald of St. Paul.
A memorial fund has been established.
Services will be at 10 a.m. MDT Wednesday at the Hyannis High School auditorium with the Rev. Bill DeLisle officiating.
Further services will be at 10:30 a.m. CDT Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Ravenna with the Rev. Dean Hanson officiating. Burial will be in the Highland Park Cemetery in Ravenna.
The memorial book may be signed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MDT today at the Mullen Funeral Home in Mullen. It may also be signed from 7 to 9 p.m. CDT Wednesday at Rasmussens Funeral Home in Ravenna.
The Mullen Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.
Robert L. 'Bob' Hempel
JOHNSON LAKE - Robert "Bob" Hempel, 68, of Johnson Lake died June 4, 2001, at Holdrege.
He was born Sept. 17, 1932, at Omaha to Barney and Della Hempel and was raised close to Rosenblatt Stadium. He attended Rosewater School before graduating from Omaha South High School in 1950, where he excelled in baseball and football. He attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha for two years, where he continued to play football.
In 1952, he entered the U.S. Army, where he served as a signal corpsman.
He worked for Northwestern Bell Telephone from 1950 to 1961. In 1961, he went to work for the family sheet-metal business until starting his career in law enforcement with Sarpy and Douglas counties as a deputy sheriff. In 1971, he took a position as a deputy with the U.S. Marshal Service. He retired in 1986.
He was a member of the Shriners and the Shriners Motor Patrol.
He was an active bowler, following in the footsteps of his Hall of Fame grandfather, Tony Francl.
After Mr. Hempel's retirement, he continued to enjoy his greatest passions, including spending time with family and friends, cooking, Nebraska football and the College World Series.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy of Johnson Lake; a daughter, Julie (Ralph) Fitzekam of Mitchell; two sons, Steven (Diane) of Omaha and David of Papillion; two stepchildren, Sally (Bill) Parrack of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Michael (Donna) Hurst of Houston; a brother, Don "Skip" (Joanne) of Omaha; four grandchildren, Steve, Dan, Jill and Brian; four stepgrandchildren, Quinn and Eric Parrack and Kathleen and Claire Hurst; and nieces, Missy and Ginger Hempel of Omaha.
A memorial has been established.
Memorial services will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Chapel of the Lake at Johnson Lake.
Berryman Funeral Home of Cozad is in charge.
Gladys A. Hesser
ELWOOD - Gladys Hesser, 92, of Elwood died July 7, 2001, at the Elwood Care Center.
She was born Feb. 8, 1909, northwest of Elwood to Robert and Martha Fitzsimmons Corder. She graduated from Elwood High School in 1926.
She taught rural school in the Elwood area until her marriage Dec. 31, 1930, to Samuel Hesser. The couple lived on a farm southwest of Elwood. Her husband preceded her in death in 1970 and she moved to Elwood later that year. In 1999, she moved to Lexington. She had lived the Elwood Care Center since January.
She was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church and was active in church work. She also had volunteered for the Tri-County Hospital in Lexington and the American Cancer Society. She had also been a member of several social clubs. In 1968, she was presented the Outstanding Rural Homemaker Award by the mayor of Omaha, representing the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
Survivors include a daughter, Carol (Dean) Boss of St. Paul, Minn.; a son, Clayton (Joan) of Rochester, Minn.; a grandson, Kim Hesser of Rochester and two granddaughters, Genia Hesser of Rochester and Brenda (David) Sage of Marine on St. Croix, Minn.; a sister-in-law, Gail Hesser Lyon of Klamath Falls, Ore.; and many nieces and nephews.
She was also preceded in death by a son, Derrel; a grandson, Greg Boss; two sisters, Prue Maxwell and Belle Bourn; and seven brothers, Claude, John, Herbert, Earl, Hart, Preston and Rex.
Memorials are suggested to the donor's choice.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church in Elwood with the Rev. Fred Andersen officiating. Burial will be in the Elwood Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. today at the First United Methodist Church in Elwood.
Berryman Funeral Home of Cozad is in charge.
Lillian Johnson
BROKEN BOW - Lillian M. Johnson, 79, of Broken Bow died July 4, 2001, at the Jennie M. Melham Memorial Medical Center in Broken Bow.
She was born May 18, 1922, to Alfred and Ellen Johnson Backstrom at Wakefield.
On April 6, 1944, she married Ernest V. Johnson at Casper, Wyo. The couple moved to Broken Bow, where her husband was a trooper for the Nebraska State Patrol. In 1953, they moved to a small farm between Ansley and Mason City.
Mrs. Johnson was a member of Our Saviour Lutheran Church. She lived at Custer Heights Apartments and enjoyed playing cards, dominoes and the companionship of her fiends and neighbors.
Part of the time, she worked at the Ordinance Plant near Grand Island, the Becton-Dickinson Plant in Broken Bow, helped with the farming and ranching and was a fulltime homemaker and mother.
Survivors include two daughters, Sandy Johnson of Broken Bow and Erlene (Rodney) Brink of Chandler, Ariz.; two sons, Butch (Robin) of Merna and Dan (Lynne) of Broken Bow; a sister, Lorraine "Tippy" (Don) Mahler of Thurston; 10 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
Her husband, her parents, two sisters and three brothers preceded her in death.
A memorial has been established to Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Broken Bow.
Services were July 7, 2001, at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Broken Bow with the Rev. Bruce Freeman officiating and Kathy Salts assisting. Burial was in the Ansley Cemetery with Iverson Memorial Chapel of Broken Bow in charge.
Albert Kurpjuweit
BROKEN BOW - Albert E. Kurpjuweit, 96, of Broken Bow died July 7, 2001, at the Sandhills Manor nursing home in Broken Bow.
He was born Dec. 11, 1904, to Herman and Bertha Nieman Kurpjuweit in the German Valley Community near Brewster, where he grew up and attended school.
On March 10, 1926, he married Ida White at Brewster. The couple lived in Ainsworth until moving to Chelan, Wash., in 1955. They worked in the apple orchards in Chelan until retiring in 1986. They moved to Broken Bow in 1987.
Mr. Kurpjuweit was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Broken Bow. In his younger years, he enjoyed playing baseball and hunting and fishing.
Survivors include four sons, Melvin (Donna) of Lincoln, Albert (Sally) and Wayne (Luann), both of Sheridan, Wyo., and James (Vickie) of Snohomish, Wash.; a son-in-law, Howard Sparks of Rosehaven, Md.; 13 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife in 1992; two daughters, Doreen Kurpjuweit and Donna Sparks; his parents; four sisters, Anna Simon, Gertrude Koch, Martha Valentine and Emma Pakorski; and two brothers, Fred and Herman.
Memorials may be given to St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Broken Bow.
Services will be at 10 a.m. today at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Broken Bow with the Rev. Steven Neyhart officiating. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. today in the Ainsworth Cemetery at Ainsworth.
Govier Brothers Mortuary of Broken Bow is in charge.
Twylla Stevens
GRAND ISLAND - Twylla M. Stevens of Chapman, a former social worker at the Veterans Clinic in North Platte, died July 7, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island. She was 58.
She was born Sept. 15, 1942, at Shelton to Herman and Mildred Oswald Spellman. She graduated from Kearney High School.
On July 5, 1963, she married Robert Stevens in Kearney. She then attended Kearney State College and Hastings College and received her master's degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Mrs. Stevens was a social worker for the State of Nebraska and the Veterans Administration. She enjoyed painting, reading and was active in many organizations.
Surviving her are two sons, Donald (Joyce) of Omaha and Mark of Lincoln; her father and stepmother, Herman and Pat Spellman of Kearney; two grandchildren; her former husband of St. Louis; a sister, Linda (Roger) Poppert of Grand Island; three brothers, Calvin (Shirley) Spellman of Phillips, Larry (Linda) Spellman of Baldwin Park, Calif., and Doug (Pat) Spellman of Elmwood; and five stepbrothers and stepsisters.
She was preceded in death by her mother and a sister.
Memorials are suggested to the family.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Kleine Funeral Home Chapel in Grand Island. The body was cremated and burial will be at a later date. There will be no visitation.
Donald R. Ballard
STERLING, Colo. - Donald R. Ballard, father of Courtney Rae and Donnie Antone Ballard, both of North Platte, died June 30, 2001, of complications of diabetes at his home in Sterling. He was 46.
He was born Dec. 1, 1954, in North Platte to Floyd and Margine Todd Ingram.
Mr. Ballard drove a truck for several North Platte firms before moving to Haxtun, Colo., about two years ago. He moved six months ago to Sterling.
Surviving him is a daughter, Courtney Rae, and a son, Donnie Antone, and a stepson, Derrick Missing, all of North Platte; a granddaughter, Abigail Renee Soto of North Platte; four sisters and two brothers.
He was preceded in death by his parents and several aunts and uncles.
The body was cremated.
A memorial service was conducted July 6, 2001, at the Tennant Funeral Home in Haxtun.
Family graveside services will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Sutherland Cemetery.
Tennant Funeral Home of Haxtun was in charge.
