U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Bernard Klawonn
AURORA -- Bernard Leslie Klawonn, 60, of Aurora died suddenly Monday, May 11, 1998, at Memorial Hospital in Aurora.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Zion Lutheran Church northeast of Hampton. The Rev. Loren Cooper will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Higby Mortuary in Aurora.
Mr. Klawonn was born on May 10, 1938, at Scottsbluff to Arthur and J. Marie (Gustafson) Klawonn. He graduated from Marquette High School in 1956. Following graduation, he served in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in South Dakota and Japan.
He married
Lova Nietfeld on Dec. 18, 1960, at Zion Lutheran Church in Worms. They moved to Chicago, where he attended DeVry Technical School. They moved to California, where he worked for a seismograph company.
They moved to Columbus and later lived in Elm Creek before they moved to Tulsa, Okla. They moved in September 1974 to Aurora, where they opened the Montgomery Ward catalog store. He became self-employed in 1982 as an appliance repairman and insurance agent.
He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church northeast of Hampton, served as elder for three years, had been Sunday school superintendent and was a member of the Lutheran Layman's League.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Kent of Crooks, S.D., and Kevin of Lennox, S.D.; two daughters, Barbara (Mrs. Ron) Bliss and Brenda Klawonn, both of Aurora; five grandchildren; his parents of Aurora; and one sister, Alma (Mrs. Dale) Rohde of Fremont.
He was preceded in death by an infant son, Timothy.
Amanda Olnes
PETERSBURG -- Amanda "Mandy" Nicole Olnes, 16, of Petersburg died Saturday, May 9, 1998, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Petersburg. The Rev. Jerry Conneally will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at Levander Funeral Home in Albion and after 7 p.m., with a 7:30 p.m. wake service, Wednesday at the church. Visitation will resume from 9 a.m. until service time Thursday at the church.
Amanda was born on Jan. 21, 1982, at Norfolk to Dale A. and Veronica L. (Wirges) Olnes. She had attended Petersburg Public School and St. John's Parochial School and was a sophomore at Petersburg High School.
She loved music and was first chair flute in band. She was also a member of the annual staff and the speech and drama teams. During the 1996-97 school year she was student manager for the Petersburg volleyball team.
She had been in 4-H for three years and was in her 10th year of Girl Scouts, in which she recently received the Merdian Medal Award. She was working for the Silver Award. She loved to sing and was a member of St. John's Centennial Choir and the Children's Christmas Choir. She participated in the Miss Teen Pageant in Omaha in 1996.
She had lived with cystic fibrosis since childhood. This past year, she attended her seventh annual camp at Camp Jenny, where she received the Camp Hero Award.
She had undergone lung transplant surgery and several months of hospitalization.
Survivors include her parents; three sisters, Jessica, Casondra and Maria, all at home; and her grandparents, Joe and Alleida Wirges and Lowell and Lavonne Olnes, all of Petersburg.
She was preceded in death by her great-grandparents.
Harvey Petersen
BURWELL -- Memorial services for Harvey Russell Petersen, 88, of Burwell were on Tuesday at Eberle-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Burwell.
The Rev. George Gillming officiated. Burial was in Cottonwood cemetery in Burwell.
Mr. Petersen died on Jan. 24, 1998, at the Grand Island Veterans Home.
Memorials are suggested to the family's choice.
Mr. Petersen was born on June 6, 1909, in Burwell to Peter N. and Nancy Theresa (Campbell) Petersen. He spent his boyhood in the Burwell area.
During the Depression, he worked with his father in the business of buying and selling hogs and worked on farms in the area. Later he lived in Lincoln, near his sister, Gladys, and family.
He joined the Army in 1942 and spent several years in the service. He served in France, Italy and North Africa. After World War II, he spent several years in California near Gladys and family, working as a crane operator at the Naval Supply Depot in San Pedro.
When Gladys and Adrian moved back to Nebraska to open a used lumber yard in Lincoln during the 1950s, Mr. Petersen returned to work for them and spent many years there.
He moved to the Grand Island Veterans Home in 1986.
He was preceded in death by his brothers and sisters.
Mary Landauer
HEBRON -- Mary Landauer, 64, of Fairbury, formerly of Petersburg, died Monday, May 11, 1998, at the Blue Valley Care Center in Hebron.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Albion. The Rev. Will Spenner will officiate. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.
Visitation will be after 3 p.m., with a 7:30 p.m. wake service, Thursday at Levander Funeral Home in Albion.
Lon McCain
PHILLIPSBURG, Kan. -- Lon McCain, 83, of Phillipsburg, Kan., formerly of Wheeler County, died Monday, May 11, 1998, at his home.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel in Phillipsburg. The Rev. Joel Hiesterman will officiate. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery at Phillipsburg with military honors by the Kansas National Guard.
Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and from 9 a.m. until service time Friday at the chapel.
Memorials are suggested to the donor's choice.
Mr. McCain was born on April 22, 1915, in Wheeler County to Ralph and Bessie (Alexander) McCain. He had worked as a rancher and farmer.
He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Survivors include five brothers, Wayne McCain of Ericson, Willard McCain of Seattle, Earl McCain of Aurora, Colo., Ed McCain of Burwell and Ronald McCain of Norfolk; and four sisters, Ruth Lenker of Phillipsburg, Kan., Veda Wibbles of Grand Island, Jenny Wildman of McCook and Laurel Foster of Bassett.
G.D. 'Jerry' McCright
FLORISSANT, Colo. -- Retired Air Force Col. Gerald D. "Jerry" Duane McCright, 68, of Florissant, Colo., died April 29, 1998, at Seton Northwest Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Services were May 5 at Faith Lutheran Church in
Woodland Park, Colo. The Rev. Kevin Kosberg officiated. Military rites and burial were at Fort Logan National cemetery at Denver.
Mountain Memorial Services in Woodland Park was in charge of arrangements.
Col. McCright was born Feb. 12, 1930, in Gregory, S.D., to William Dwight and Verona E. (Wendel) McCright of Gross, Neb. In 1936, the McCright family moved to Grand Island. In 1945, the family moved to Fullerton, where he graduated from high school in 1947.
Following graduation from high school, Col. McCright enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
He married
Geraldine Pudroski on April 4, 1952, at Lake Charles, La. Mrs. McCright died Sept. 10, 1997.
Col. McCright was a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Weather Service in Japan when the Korean War broke out. Following his return to the United States, he attended Officer Candidate School at Lackland Air Base, San Antonio, and was commissioned a second lieutenant following graduation.
During 30 years in the Air Force, he served in Greenland, Greece, Spain and various Air Force bases in the United States. He was commander of the Air Weather Squadron at Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colo., and at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin. The family moved to Florissant in 1985. He was director of Teller County Senior Services for several years.
Col. McCright received his college degrees while in the Air Force and a doctorate in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin following retirement.
Survivors include three sons, David of Gallup, N.M., Timothy of Austin and Michael of Denver; four daughters, Susan Hollis of Austin, Kimberly Herrera of Littleton, Colo., Linsey Baldwin of Holyoke, Colo., and Elizabeth McCright of Lower Gwyned, Pa.; 13 grandchildren; two brothers, Lloyd of Willcox, Ariz., and Jim of Charles Town, W.Va.; and one sister, Billy Wetterer of Wood River.
Robert Happold Sr.
Robert C. Happold Sr., 71, of Grand Island died Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1998, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Island. The Revs. Douglas Stensby and Gretchen Diers will officiate. Burial will be in Cedarview cemetery at Doniphan. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday at Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home.
Memorials are suggested to the family.
Mr. Happold was born Nov. 8, 1926, to Christian and Edith (Horst) Happold at Grand Island. He grew up and received his education in the Trumbull, Giltner and Hampton areas. He graduated from Hampton High School in 1944.
He entered the U.S. Army on Feb. 16, 1945, serving in the South Pacific and was discharged on Dec. 13, 1946, as a sergeant. He than began working as a grain inspector. He later began selling seed for Moorman Seed Company. He also attended and graduated from the Grand Island Business College.
On June 22, 1952, he married
Sylvia Mills at Grand Island. After his marriage he began working for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier. He worked for the Postal Service for 40 years, retiring in 1992. After his retirement he began working part-time at Skagway.
He was a member of Messiah Lutheran Church and also sang in he church choir. He was a member of the Platt-Duetsche, Saddle Club, V.F.W., Liederkranz, Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 378, and he was a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers Union. He enjoyed gardening, Nebraska football and all kinds of sports.
Survivors include one son, Robert Happold Jr. of Grand Island; two daughters, Jean (Mrs. Edward) Cosgriff of Doniphan and Jana (Mrs. Mark) Kooker of Des Moines, Iowa; six grandchildren; four brothers, Norman Happold of Doniphan, Fred Happold and Kenneth Happold, both of California and Don Happold of McCook; four sisters, Helen Morlong of California, Virginia Schaffert of Aurora, Margarite Adams of Lincoln, Joann Blake of Texas; and a special friend, Jean Zwiener of Grand Island.
He was preceded in death by a brother and four infant brothers and sisters.
