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G.B. 'Jiggs' Crapson
While recuperating from bleeding ulcers in a Denver hospital, former Wauneta Breeze Publisher G.B. "Jiggs" Crapson, 64, of Wauneta unexpectedly succumbed to a heart attack early Tuesday morning.
Crapson, owner and publisher of the Hitchcock County News in Trenton and the Hayes Center Times-Republican, was taken by flight for life to Denver last Thursday after losing a substantial amount of blood. Family members reported Monday that he appeared to be making progress on the road to recovery prior to his heart attack.
Crapson grew up in Wauneta and Hayes County, one of eight children born
to Roy and Billie Crapson. As a youngster, Jiggs worked at the Wauneta Breeze as a printer’s devil under Dwayne Hodges, who owned the Breeze from 1948-1955.
In 1965, Jiggs and his brother, Bill Crapson, purchased the Wauneta Breeze from former publisher, Stan Smith, launching their publishing careers. They ran the paper together until 1969, when Jiggs became the sole owner. He ran the Wauneta newspaper until selling it to Johnson Publications in 1982.
During his ownership of the Breeze, Crapson also purchased the Benkelman Post, which he later sold, and the Hayes Center paper, which he still owned at the time of his death, along with the Hitchcock County News.
As publisher of the Breeze, Crapson is well remembered for his lively column "Jottings by Jiggs." He was known for his quick wit, strong community boosterism, devotion to family and love for all things Irish.
He is survived by his wife, Pat, five children, grandchildren and numerous family members and friends.
Funeral services will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Wauneta with burial at Riverside Cemetery, Wauneta.
Paul Robert Bartels
Paul Robert Bartels died Monday, March 31, 2003, in Aurora, Colo.
He was born
Nov. 15, 1958 to Robert and Marilyn Bartels.
Paul was baptized Dec. 14, 1958 by Pastor W. A. Meyer and was confirmed April 15, 1973 by Pastor Bruce Lakamp at Zion Lutheran Church. He grew up in Imperial, Neb. and graduated from Chase County High School in 1977.
He attended the University of Nebraska. He also graduated from aviation mechanic school.
On April 13, 1980 he was married to Jill Sughroue and to this union four children, Audra, Annie, Emily and Evan were born.
Over the years he had worked at Red Willow Aviation in McCook, Neb. and also at Centennial Airport in Colorado.
Paul’s children were his greatest love and joy.
Paul is survived by his parents, Robert and Marilyn Bartels of Imperial; children, Audra, Annie, Emily and Evan; sister, Joni Kaiser and husband, Max of Imperial; nephews, Luke, Nick and Ed Kaiser; and numerous other relatives and friends.
Dolores Mohler
Dolores Theobald Mohler passed away peacefully at her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., the morning of Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at the age of 91. She had been living in Colorado Springs since the late spring of 2000.
Dolores was born
in Yuma, Colo., on Sept. 8, 1911. Her father, George Theobald, was a carpenter as well as a millwright originally from Wiscon-sin. Her mother, Bertha Schempp Theobald was a graduate nurse from Illinois.
When Dolores was nine months old, her family moved to Wauneta, Nebr., where her father built a mill and also homes. When she was 11, the mill caught fire and subsequently her father passed away. At that point she and her younger brother, Dale, tried to help their mother meet ends by various chores such as babysitting, delivering meat and selling straw-berries.
Their mother converted the house into a "tourist home" since there was no hotel from the nearest town 20 miles away to the railroad center 50 miles to the east. During the summers traveling salesmen and Chautauqua entertainers stayed at the house, while in the winter the family boarded school teachers.
When Dolores was 13 she began working at the Grimms Brothers Hardware Store. This was a full time summer job and in the winter a Saturday job. The job did not keep Dolores away from her love of learning, hiking and camping in the out of doors which had been received from her favorite teacher, Mae Grimm.
Dolores also loved horses and riding them with her best friend, Grace Oliver. She played on the girls basketball team and lettered in other sports. She also was in dramatics and music concerts. As a senior in high school she was the editor of the yearbook and came up with the name, Wauneta Broncos, in honor of the bronco horse she enjoyed riding on. She graduated from Wauneta High School in 1929.
She went to McCook Junior College for her first year of higher education and to Nebraska Wesleyan the second year. At the end of this year she was sent home with anemia and spent the following year recovering with relatives on farms in Wisconsin and Illinois.
In 1933 she decided to go to the University of Nebraska where she majored in Social Work. Through the Quaker Society of Friends, Dolores earned Social work credits by working with Italian immigrant children in Philadelphia, Pa., one summer. Another summer she took classes at the University of Colorado in Denver, where she worked on a project with Navajo Indians from New Mexico. She went on to graduate as a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Nebraska.
After graduation she worked for seven years as a caseworker for The Family Service Agency in Lincoln, Nebr.
Dolores was married to Phares Lapp Mohler on Sept. 3, 1939. She continued to work and commuted to be with her new husband in Norfolk, Nebr. For a period of time, she was the Acting Director of Family Service.
Dolores was a devoted wife and mother. Her two children, Laurel and Ann, were born
in Norfolk before her husband was transferred to Omaha in October of 1950. Phares worked for the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. During these years, Dolores was focused mainly on the care and nurturing of her immediate and extended family. She cared for aging elderly relatives, a brother-in-law who had tuberculosis and also instilled the ritual of the dinner table as a place of family reunion for all. Her abiding love of books led her to the University of Omaha for night classes in library science.
Her energy and love of life was grounded in a life long commitment to Christian values. She was active in the Clifton Hill Presbyterian Church in many different roles in her 50-year membership there. She was a pioneer in her community by helping to found the Northwest Community Council of Omaha. The goal of the council was to maintain a neighborhood which was culturally and racially mixed which was a novel idea in the early 1960s.
During her last 15 years in Omaha she continued to live at 4032 Maple in her neighborhood which was now predominately African-American. She was respected as a living legend in the Neighborhood as "that old lady on the corner who grows the tomatoe plants."
After her children were grown and her husband was retired, Dolores enjoyed helping her husband in a traveling electronic sales position which entailed covering 11 western states. This was a wonderful time for them.
Throughout her life, Dolores had an avid interest in history, particularly Nebraska history. She continued to read and acquire new books for her collection up until she passed away. She also enjoyed researching the history of both the Theobald and Mohler families.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Phares Lapp Mohler; her parents, George and Bertha Theobald; her brother, Dale Theobald; nieces, Brenda Theobald and D’Ann Johnson; her half sister, Mina Athey; nieces, Vetura and Eunice; nephew, Veryl; half sister, Charlotte Jarvis; niece, May and nephew, Mark; half sister, Mary Athey; nephews, Leon and Glenn Athey.
She is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth Laurel Dunn and Ann Louise Mohler; sister-in-law, Phyllis Theobald; niece, Myrna Bradbury; great nieces, Angela Johnson and Athenia Michael; nephews, Marvin Athey and Kent Theobald; great nephew, Ty Theobald. She is also survived by her brothers-in-law, Levi Mohler and Nathan Mohler; niece, Lois Okrasinski; great niece, Alison Taylor; niece, Dr. Jean Anderson; great niece, Dr. Mindy Cohen, and nephew, Robert Mohler; great niece, Kelsey Moses and great nephew, Kyle Mohler.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, April 1, 2003, at 2 p.m. MT at the United Methodist Church in Wauneta with the Rev. Michael Laing officiating.
Music was provided by organist, Mrs. Lucille McBride and soloist, Mrs. Sharon Walgren.
Honorary casketbearers were Angela Johnson and Arvin Michel.
Interment followed at Riverside Cemetery of rural Wauneta.
Memorials may be given to the Chase County Division of the Nebraska Historical Foundation, 215 Centennial Mall South, 408 Lincoln Center Building, Lincoln, NE 68508-1813.
Liewer Funeral Home of Wauneta was in charge of arrangements.
Death Notice-Dianna (Schnell) Durre
Franklin (AP)—Three people were killed on Nebraska roads during the weekend, including Dianna (Schnell) Durre of Naponee, who died in a single-vehicle crash that investigators blamed on high winds.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened just after 6 p.m. CST Friday while the 45-year-old Durre was eastbound on U.S. Highway 136 about three miles west of Bloomington.
Investigators think a strong crosswind caused the woman to lose control of the vehicle, which rolled down an embankment and struck a utility pole.
Durre was a former resident of Imperial.
The deaths over the weekend brought to 52 the number of people killed on Nebraska roads this year, compared with 78 by March 31, 2002.
Death Notice-Paul R. Bartels
Paul R. Bartels, age 44, of Aurora, Colo., died Monday, March 31, 2003 at his home in Aurora.
Services will be held Saturday, April 5, 2003, at 11 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Imperial, Neb. with Pastor Robert Frank officiating.
Interment will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery in Imperial.
Visitation will be held Friday afternoon, April 4, from 2 to 6 p.m at Liewer Funeral Home.
Survivors include his parents, Bob and Marilyn Bartels of Imperial; children, Audra, Annie, Emily and Evan; sister, Joni Kaiser and husband Max of Imperial and three nephews, Luke, Nick and Ed Kaiser.
A memorial has been established in his memory.
Liewer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Lloyd Rambow
Lloyd Rambow, 83 of St. Louis, Mo. passed away March 19, 2003 of natural causes.
Lloyd was born
Nov. 11, 1919 at Haxtun, Colo. to William H. Rambow and Ella M. (Kommers) Rambow.
He was raised in Haxtun, Colo. and graduated from Haxtun High School in 1937. On April 6, 1941 he was married to June M. Huston.
He worked in auto repair in Holyoke, Colo. prior to 1941 and moved to Hawthorne, Calif., having worked at North American Aviation in research and development for five years.
Lloyd was self-employed as a mechanic for 11 years in Imperial, Neb. He worked for Chrysler Corporation for four years; Wolf Advertising for one year; Renault-Peugot for 12 years; and at Saab Cars USA as a service manager for 20 years. Lloyd had visited the Saab Auto Factory in Sweden and the Renault Auto Factory in France. His hobbies were auto repair, maintenance and restoration.
Survivors include: daughters, Joyce Rodgers and husband Max of Camden, N.Y. and Karol Bullen and husband Andrew of Craig, Colo.
Lloyd was preceded in death by his wife, June H. Rambow; brother, Virgil Rambow and sister, Lorraine Harding.
Services and burial were held Wednesday, March 26, 2003 at the Haxtun Cemetery in Haxtun, Colo. with Reverand Al Strauss officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of choice.
Funeral arrangements were under the care of the Tennant Funeral Home of Haxtun.
Frances Statz
Frances Evelyn (Cockle) Statz of DeFuniak Springs, Fla. passed away Feb. 27, 2003 in Panama City, Fla.
She was the only child of Elmer and Florence (Jackson) Cockle.
She was born
Nov. 13, 1915.
She grew up in several areas of Nebraska and graduated from high school in York, Neb.
She was married to Mayo Statz on Feb. 19, 1939 in her parent’s home in York, Neb.
Mayo and Frances lived west of Champion, Neb. for many years. They moved to Florida in 1958 for health reasons.
She was a very active member of the First United Methodist Church of DeFuniak Springs.
Her parents, her husband, Mayo and one son, Richard preceded her in death.
She is survived by one son, T. Jerry Fountain and wife, Tessie of DeFuniak Springs; two daughters, Pat Padgett and husband Larry of Pace, Fla. and Kae Fountain and husband J.C. of Panama City, Fla.; one sister-in-law, Arrie Anna Bentz of Imperial; eight grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and two great great children. One special nephew, Rand Levy of Champion and one special niece, Dottie of California, also survive her.
Funeral services were held Sunday, March 2, 2003 at the First United Methodist Church of DeFuniak Springs with the Reverend Bob Penton officiating.
Burial followed in Magnolia Cemetery.
Rand and Donna Levy of Champion attended the services.
Lanny Charles Peckham
Lanny Charles Peckham, age 55, of Holyoke, Colo., passed away in his home of natural causes on Sunday, March 16, 2003.
He was born
on Aug. 19, 1947 in Lincoln, Neb. to Earl Peckham and Rose Pump Peckham. Lanny was one of five children and lived most of his life in Holyoke.
Lanny served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He was employed by many local businesses, including Speer Cushion, Wells Motors, Holyoke Cooperative, Baldwin Chevrolet and was currently working at Western Potato.
Lanny was united in marriage to Connie K. Klinzmann on June 19, 1981 in Holyoke, Colo. and became the father of two boys, Tony and John (J.C.).
Lanny and Connie opened their home and their hearts to many "generic children."
Lanny will be remembered best for the hours he spent in his garage working on almost everything, for building and racing cars and riding motorcycles. He always took time to teach most anything that anyone would care to learn and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
Lanny was preceded in death by his wife Connie, his parents and grandparents and by one brother, Gary Peckham.
He is survived by two sons: Tony D. Peckham and wife Julie of Brush, Colo. and John C. (J.C.) Peckham of Holyoke; granddaughter, Victoria of Greeley; brothers, Terry Peckham of Holyoke, Larry Peckham of Denver and Randy Peckham and wife Sharon of Elko, Nev.; many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, including two aunts from Imperial, Annabel Pump and Jane Grantham.
Funeral services for Lanny Charles Peckham were conducted on Friday, March 21, 2003 at the First Baptist Church in Holyoke with Rev. Gary Jones officiating.
Interment was made in Holyoke Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Lanny Charles Peckham Memorial Fund.
Roberts-Baucke Funeral Service of Holyoke was in charge of arrangements.
Maryan R. Rider
Long time resident, Maryan Rosamond (Feese) Rider passed away at Heritage of Wauneta nursing home Thursday, March 20, 2003, at age 102. She was the youngest of seven children born
to Urias D. Feese and Elizabeth (Zerbe) Feese at Alma, Neb., on Dec. 24, 1900.
Maryan attended school in Alma, graduating from Alma High School in 1919. She acquired her teaching certificate after two summers of schooling at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, after which she taught three years, one year in a country school near Alma and two years at the Stamford, Neb., public schools.
While living in Stamford, Maryan met and married Frank E. Rider, a dentist, on June 8, 1925. In 1926, they moved to Wauneta, Neb., where Frank continued his dental practice for 60 years. During this time, they built and operated the Chateau Theatre in the evenings.
Eventually two sons were born
to Frank and Maryan: Dr. Eugene F. Rider and Kenneth C. Rider.
Maryan grew up on a farm south of Alma. Her father was a farmer, breeder of registered Holstein cattle and a dairyman. He built both an ice cream and a butter factory on his farm, and shipped their products by railroad. Milk from the farm was delivered each morning throughout the town of Alma.
Maryan loved horse riding and would often help her father bring in the cattle. While teaching in the rural one-room school, she saddled and rode her favorite horse, for some distance, to the school each day, including winter, as her mode of transportation.
Maryan had many interests in Wauneta. She loved the outdoors, working in her garden, planting flowers, pulling weeds and mowing the lawn.
Neither was there a lack of talent. Among other things, she played the organ, was an artist, did intricate needlework, quilted, braided rugs and made many crafts.
She was a loving and caring mother to her family and never once did she utter an offensive word to anyone.
Maryan especially had a deep love for her husband. "Working and being together" was their motto for a happy marriage, and they did almost every-thing together. This entailed, coupled with many other things, helping Frank with his dental practice and the theatre at night. Frank’s death stunned her with grief and pain for many years.
Maryan was also a loving person towards people. There wasn’t a person she didn’t like. Her love for people was expressed, among other ways, in giving during the Depression years, and her wholehearted contributions which made possible the reopening of the Chateau Theatre.
She believed very deeply in God and that life follows death. She was also an avid reader. The Bible espec-ially gave her comfort and strength.
A family "that eats and prays together, stays together" was another strong belief held by Maryan. As a result, a short prayer was always said before meals which included the holding of hands.
Maryan’s "house on the hill" was also her heart. It filled her with hope, encouragement, guidance and love. And the kitchen was often filled with the aroma of baking chocolate or some other savory and appetizing foods. Maryan was a skillful and gifted cook.
With the last chapter of Maryan’s life having ended, preceding her in death were her parents, four brothers, two sisters, husband Frank and son Kenneth. She will be sadly missed by her son, Gene; two daughter-in-laws, Marilyn and Marcia; five grand-children, three great grandchildren and one great, great grandson.
Services for Maryan were held Monday, March 24, 2003, at the First United Methodist Church in Wauneta with Pastor Michael Laing officiating.
Music was provided by organist, Mrs. Lucille McBride, and soloist, Mrs. Sharon Walgren.
Casketbearers were Bob Walgren, Charles Rice, Russ Pankonin, Lloyd Sinner, Brian Harchelroad and Ray Kisinger.
Interment was in the Riverside Cemetery, Wauneta, with Liewer Funeral Home in charge of arrange-ments.
A memorial fund has been set up for the Wauneta Senior Center building fund.
