Obituaries

Robert Willis, age 89, of Aurora, passed away Thursday, December 14, 2017, Memorial Community Care in Aurora.
A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, December 19 at the Aurora United Methodist Church in Aurora.  Rev. Karla Sheffy will officiate.  Inurnment will be in the Aurora Cemetery at a later date.  Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Monday at the Aurora United Methodist Church, 1104 A Street.  Memorials may be made to the family to be designated at a later date. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Robert Hamilton Willis, the son of Ralph and Hilma (Anderson) Willis, was born at, Aurora, on December 30, 1927 and passed away in Aurora, on December 14, 2017, at the age of 89.

Billy E. McHargue, 82, of Lincoln, passed away on Dec. 8, 2017.  He was born Dec. 11, 1934 to William Hiram McHargue and Frieda Mae (Drawbough) McHargue, on a farm near Central City.  Billy grew up on a farm outside of Marquette and attended country school through 8th grade.  He went to and graduated from Aurora High School in Aurora in 1952.  Billy graduated from UNL in 1958 with an Economic Degree.  Billy married his high school sweetheart at the United Methodist Church in Aurora.  Billy and Marlene Simpson were united in marriage on Nov. 28, 1954.  To this union three children were born, Vicky, Debbie and Mike. Billy ran his parents farm for 23 years and worked for NIS Financial Services/Ozark National Life until his retirement in 2002.  Billy and Marlene traveled for six years; saw all the states several times, including Alaska, Mexico and Canada.

Todd L. Gerdes, age 54, of Aurora, passed away December 6, 2017 at CHI St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island.
Memorial services will be held Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 at 10 a.m. at the Evangelical Free Church in Central City, with Pastor Sam Krug officiating. A time of fellowship to celebrate Todd’s life with family and friends will be held the evening of Dec. 10—details will be distributed through social media. Please come as Todd would know you. A private family inurnment will be held at a later date.  Dubas Funeral Home of Stromsburg and Osceola has been entrusted with arrangements.

(Lilo) Lieselotte Gerda Heumann, 97 of Grand Island died Friday, November 17, 2017 at Wedgewood Care Center.
A Memorial service was held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29 at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kronborg.  Reverend Kristine Schroeder  officiated.  Burial of ashes will be in the Kronborg Cemetery.
All Faiths Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
Lilo was born October 2, 1920 at Rethausen, Germany, the daughter of Wilhelm and Margarete (Engel) Koehn.

Burdette Davis, age 99, of Aurora, passed away on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, at Hamilton Manor.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 9 at St. John Lutheran Church at Kronborg.  Pastor Kristine Schroeder will officiate. Inurnment will be at a later date at the St. Paul Cemetery.  Burdette donated her body to science.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family or St. John’s Lutheran Church. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Burdette Petrea Davis, the daughter of Jack and Olga (Johnson) Nielsen, was born at Lindsay, on Aug. 4, 1918 and passed away in Aurora, on Dec. 6, 2017, at the age of 99.
She grew up in several locations as her family moved to find work.  Parts of her growing up years were spent in a sod house near Burlington, Colorado.

Marjorie Beach, 75, of Oak Island, NC passed away December 5, 2017, at the SECU Hospice House, Bolivia, NC. She will be cremated.
Marjorie was born in Belle Fourche, SD to Leland and Mildred (Colvin) Ripley.
 She married John Beach in 1964 at Aurora.
Marji was reared on a ranch in Wyoming and the family also traveled throughout Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska training and racing thoroughbred horses.
She graduated from high school in Elba, in 1960, and then completed cosmetology school in Grand Island, in 1961.

Erma M. Kalinowski, 90, of Aurora, formerly of Cairo, died Wednesday, November 29, 2017, at Hamilton Manor in Aurora. Funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Ravenna. Father Richard Piontkowski will officiate. Burial will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Ravenna. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. at Apfel Funeral Home in Grand Island with a Rosary vigil at 6 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.apfelfuneralhome.com.
Erma was born June 7, 1927, in Farwell, to John and Mary (Siegel) Sidel. She grew up in Farwell and graduated from Farwell High School in 1944, at the age of sixteen.

Dorothy Bergmark, age 86, of Aurora, passed away on Sunday, December 3, 2017, at Memorial Hospital.
Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6 at Higby-McQuiston Chapel. Pastor Jerry Breese will officiate. Inurnment will be in the Aurora Cemetery at a later date. The family requests casual dress for the services. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at Higby-McQuiston Mortuary. In lieu of flower, memorials may be made to the family. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Dorothy I. Bergmark, the daughter of Ernest Leo and Jewel Mildred (Grizzle) Stumbo, was born at Humboldt, Kans. on October 11, 1931 and passed away in Aurora, on Dec. 3, 2017, at the age of 86.

Esther Marie Rempel (Friesen) Wall went to her heavenly home on Wednesday Nov. 29, 2017.
Esther was born October 4, 1927 to George T. and Olga (Regier) Rempel at Henderson.
She attended country school at District 80 in York County. She and her sister Elizabeth sang at some  weddings and different gatherings with their mother Olga playing the piano for them. She also worked as a maid on various farms.
Upon confession of her faith Esther was baptized and joined the Bethesda Mennonite Church. On May 30, 1947 she married Milton Friesen. The marriage was cut short on May 30, 1949 when he was pinned under their car as he was working on it. He was the son of Thomas H. Friesen. They were married exactly 2 years. She then moved back with her parents, and when the Henderson Hospital was built in 1950 she was asked to help work for Dr. Hamilton helping with many tasks.

Memorial Services for Wilbur L. Holloway will be held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at 11 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Alma, with Pastor Sarah Shanks and Mr. Gary Janssen officiating.  Internment will take place at Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, at a later date.
Wilbur Lee Holloway, 71, of Alma, died on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017 at the Harlan County Health System in Alma.  Wilbur was born Nov. 5, 1946 in Aurora, the fourth of five children born to Roy and Valeta (Marvel) Holloway.  He graduated from Aurora High School in 1965 and then pursued higher education at a Technical College in Omaha, majoring in Auto Mechanics.