Obituaries

Roger Christensen, age 66, of Aurora, formerly of Lincoln, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, at Memorial Hospital in Aurora.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 12 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kronborg.  Interment will be in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery.  Military Rites will be provided by Lester S. Harter Post #42 - Aurora American Legion.   Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at Higby-McQuiston Mortuary.   Memorials may be made to the family to designate at a later date.  Condolences may be e-mailed to the  family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Roger Dean Christensen, the son of Nels Hans and Frances Louise (Grella) Christensen, was born in Central City, on Dec. 28, 1951 and passed away in Aurora, on Oct. 6, 2018, at the age of 66.

Mary Ann Pence, age 93, of Aurora, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, at Memorial Community Care.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at Presbyterian United Church of Christ in Aurora.  Rev. Bruce Bradley will officiate. Interment will be in the Aurora Cemetery. No Visitation.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to P.E.O., American Cancer Society, Alzheimer’s Association or the Local Backpack Program.  Higby-McQuiston Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.  Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.
Mary Ann Pence was born in Aurora, on Aug. 18, 1925, the daughter of John T. and Olive M. (Hibbs) Sullivan.  She shared a loving relationship with one brother, Donald E. Sullivan.  Her loving, gracious spirit soared peacefully heavenward on Oct. 6, 2018.

Melvin ‘Jake’ Penner, age 86, of Grand Island, formerly of Aurora, passed away on Friday evening, Oct. 5, 2018, at Memorial Community Care.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Aurora. Rev. Loras Grell will officiate.  Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, with a Rosary at 7 p.m.  Memorials may be made to the family to designate at a later date.  Higby-McQuiston Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at higbymortuary.com.
Melvin ‘Jake’ Gene Penner, the son of Fred and Genevieve (Austin) Penner, was born in Stockham, on Jan. 8, 1932 and passed away in Aurora, on Oct. 5, 2018, at the age of 86.
He attended school in Stockham thru the 5th grade and when the family moved to Aurora, he completed his education at Aurora High School.

Clark Lee Senff, age 66, of St. George, Kansas, died Oct. 6, 2018, at the Good Shepherd Hospice House in Manhattan, Kansas, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was born May 19, 1952, in Aurora, the son of Wilmer T. and Doris C. (Russell) Senff.
Clark graduated from high school in Hampton, and from the Omaha School of Business in Omaha.
He served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War as a Specialist 4 and had received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal.  Clark was a manager of Marketing Services for Manhattan Mutual Insurance Company and then owned and operated Quality Home Inspections for 28 years.  

Funeral Services for Betty J. Lyons will be held Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Alma United Methodist Church in Alma, with Pastor Jim Bendorf officiating. Interment will follow at the Alma Cemetery.
Betty Jean Lyons, 93 years of age, of Hastings, formerly of Alma, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 at the Good Samaritan Society – Hastings Village in Hastings. Betty was born July 13, 1925 to Victor Albion and Amanda Sophia (Hall) Isaacson in Republic County, Kansas.   She was raised on a farm near Scandia, Kansas.
On May 1, 1945, she married Marion Junior Lyons in Mankato, Kansas.  He died in 1973.  To this union were born seven children.  The first, Gary Lee, who died as an infant from a heart defect.  The couple lived in Heartwell and Superior, before moving to Hastings. Then moved to Aurora for a few years before Junior died.

Lisa L. Henk, 48, of Kearney passed away on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 at Good Samaritan Society - St. Luke’s Village in Kearney.  Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 at the O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home in Kearney with Pastor Steve Shanno officiating.  Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 and one hour prior to the service at the O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home. Inurnment will be held at a later date at the Central City Cemetery.
Memorials in Lisa’s name are suggested to Start Over Rover in Hastings and Kearney Area Animal Shelter.  Condolences may be shared online at www.osrfh.com.  Services are entrusted to O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral and Cremation Services.

James “Jim” P. Schneider, 59, of Archer, formerly of Omaha, died on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha.  Funeral services will be held on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 at 1 p.m. at Solt-Wagner Funeral Home in Central City with Trent Wagner officiating.  Visitation will be on Friday, Sept. 28 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Solt-Wagner Funeral Home in Central City.  In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the family.  Condolences may be sent to the family at www.soltwagnerfuneral.com.  A full obituary will appear at a later date.

Bernie Horst, 69 of Grand Island, died peacefully, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 at CHI Health St. Francis, Grand Island. He fought hard and long in an extremely difficult and painful journey with courage and endurance.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, at Third City Christian Church with the Rev. Scott Jones officiating.  Burial will be in the Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Grand Island.  Visitation hours will be from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 at the Apfel Funeral Home, Grand Island.  Memorials are suggested to rettsyndrome.org.  Apfel Funeral Home is caring for the family.

Donna Jean (Dixon) Peters was born April 10, 1932 in Hastings to John W. and Venita L. (McClure) Dixon and passed away on Sept. 18, 2018 at the Hearthstone in York at the age of 86.  Her first home was in a sod house on a farm northeast of Alma, on land that her great-grandfather homesteaded in 1873.  In May of 1940, she was baptized and confirmed at the Methodist Church in Alma.  That same year, she moved with her family to Phillipsburg, Kans. where she attended school through the 8th grade.  In the summer of 1945 the family moved to Aurora, and she graduated from Aurora High School in 1949.  On Aug. 28, 1949 she was married to John H. Peters at the Methodist Church in Aurora.
They moved to York in May of 1950 and Donna worked for Nebraska Public Power (formerly Consumers Public Power) either part-time or full-time for almost 50 years.  She retired in 2000.  Following retirement, she volunteered at Blue Valley Community Action and drove Busy Wheels.

Charlene L. (Knecht) Weber, 64, of Aurora, died Friday Sept. 14, 2018 at CHI Health St. Francis in Grand Island.
Apfel Funeral Home is caring for the family.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 20, 2018 at the Apfel Funeral Home Chapel in Grand Island, with Rev. Wayne Oblender officiating. Family will gather to greet friends one hour prior to the service. Memorials are suggested to the family.