Cindy Wanda Cox-Votaw, age 48, of Wellfleet, passed away Saturday, May 4, 2013 at Great Plains Regional Medical Center. She was born June 26, 1964, in Dunlap Iowa to Gary and Barbara Stolley-Cox. She graduated from Dunlap High School with the class of 1982. She then attended college in Sioux City getting her degree in retail management. After college she traveled all over the country with her dog, Dakota. She ended up settling down in Nebraska, where she met the love of her life, Mark Votaw. The couple made their home in Wellfleet. Cindy worked various jobs before becoming a truck driver for Sodexo, delivering food to schools in the area. Cindy loved artwork, gardening, kayaking, and just being outdoors with nature. She was very creative and had a wild imagination. Cindy was a people person who will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Survivors include the love of her life, Mark Votaw of Wellfleet; a daughter Cassie Dee Votaw also of Wellfleet; parents Barbara and Gary Cox; a sister, Anita Cox; a brother Todd (Lori) Cox all of Dunlap, Iowa; two nieces, Erin (Kevin) Korell and Heather Votaw; three nephews, Andy, Alec and Carson Cox; and a great-nephew Jesse Korell.
She was preceded in death by a daughter, Laynie Dae Votaw.
A memorial has been established in her name and online condolences may be made at www.carpentermemorial.com.
Funeral services will be 10:30 AM today at Carpenter Memorial Chapel with Pastor Tammy Aubushon officiating. Burial will follow at Wellfleet Cemetery. Carpenter Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Month: May 2013
Senator Haar Returns to NE Legislature After Suffering Heart Attack
A Nebraska state lawmaker who suffered a mild heart attack has returned to the Legislature.
Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm thanked his colleagues for their calls, prayers and letters during a brief floor speech on Tuesday. The well-known environmental advocate struck a humorous tone, noting that he suffered the heart attack while cutting down trees on Arbor Day.
Haar, a Democrat, joked about seeing a bright light, meeting his late father and promising to change parties if he could return to work.
Haar says he received a handful of “miracle drugs” to help treat his condition, but didn’t undergo surgery. He added that he spent less than 24 hours in the hospital, and received a $22,000 medical bill.
Haar was first elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 2008.
Charlene Rae Devine
Charlene Rae Devine, 66, of Gothenburg, Nebraska, died May 5, 2013 at her home in Gothenburg, NE, following a courageous battle with cancer.
She was born May 13, 1946 in Gothenburg, NE, daughter of Harry James Crawford Sr. and Lorraine Elbera (Franzen) Crawford.
Charlene graduated from Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, CO in 1964. She married Ron Devine on April 2, 1966 at Colorado Springs; to this union, two daughters were born: Kelli and Kristi.
Charlene worked as a tax preparer for many years. Charlene was a 4-H mom to many. She collected porcelain dolls, enjoyed shopping and going to garage sales. Charlene was a very generous person who shared many of the things she purchased with the less fortunate. She was a member of the Birthday Club, Card Club, Red Hat Society, Meals on Wheels Volunteer, Sunday School Teacher, Vacation Bible School Teacher, Lutheran Church Women, and Luther League Sponsor.
Charlene’s greatest treasures were her grandchildren. She loved “heading East” to attend their many activities.
Surviving are loving husband Ron Devine of Gothenburg, NE; two daughters – Kelli and husband Rod Mattson of Wahoo, NE, Kristi Phillipson of Omaha, NE; five grandchildren; Colter Mattson, Chaleigh Mattson, Cadie Mattson, Emma Phillipson, and Brody Phillipson; sister – JoAnn Norris; brother – Daniel (Daryl) Crawford; her father-in-law Morris Devine; along with many extended family and friends.
Charlene was preceded in death by her father, Harry James Crawford Sr., mother, Lorraine Elbera Crawford and a brother Harry “Butch” Crawford, Jr, and mother-in-law Cora Evelyn Devine.
The Devine family would especially like to thank the Hospice nurses and staff, and the Gothenburg Rescue Unit for their tender care of Charlene.
Visitation will be held at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Gothenburg, Nebraska; Wednesday, May 08, 2013 1:00 pm – 8:00 pm. with the family present from 5-7.
Funeral Services will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, May 9, 2013 at 10:00 am.
Interment will follow in the Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Maxwell, Nebraska.
Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society Heartland Division 9850 Nicholas, Suite 200Omaha, NE 68114; Gothenburg Volunteer Fire Department 602 Tenth Street Gothenburg, NE 69138; Central Plains Home Health & Hospice 300 E 12th Street Cozad, NE 69130.
To sign the online guest book, go to www.blasestrauser.com.
Clark Goes Back to the Pen on Burglary Charges
A 26-year-old North Platte man has been sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison for burglarizing the North Platte Regional Recycling Center.
Bradley Clark was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County District Court.
Prosecutors asked Judge Richard Birch for a lengthy sentence due to Clark’s extensive criminal record. They noted that Clark apparently steals to support his drug habit.
He had been out of prison for less than a year when this crime was committed.
Police say Clark stole metals from the Regional Recycling Center, then tried to sell the materials to North Platte Metals.
Sutherland Man Gets Prison for Sexually Assaulting a 14-Year-Old Girl
A 29-year-old Sutherland man has been sentenced to four to five years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Lincoln County District Court Judge Richard Birch sentenced Eric Humphrey on Monday.
Humphrey is accused of sexually assaulting the girl on five different occasions between December of 2011 and March of 2012.
Humphrey told Judge Birch that he was extremely sorry and was working to become a better member of society.
Humphrey will have register as a sex offender, and was give credit for 426 days in jail.
Lexington Man Gets Probation in Shaken Baby Case
A 23-year-old man has been given 30 months of probation for shaking a baby in south-central Nebraska.
23-year-old Cameron Hovey was sentenced to community service as well. Dawson County District Court records say Hovey also was given 134 days in jail, with credit for 14 days already served. He was sentenced on Monday.
Hovey pleaded guilty to vigorously shaking a 4½-month-old child last summer. Prosecutors had lowered the child abuse charge in exchange for Hovey’s plea.
Hovey told police that he shook the child because he panicked when it appeared the baby had stopped breathing.
The infant suffered brain damage.
Three Women Missing for a Decade Found Alive in Ohio, Three Brothers Arrested
A frantic 911 call has led police to a house near downtown Cleveland, where three women who went missing a decade ago have been found.
Police Chief Michael McGrath says Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were tied up at the house and held there since they were in their teens or early 20s. They were found on Monday, along with a 6-year-old child.
A 52-year-old man has been arrested in relation to the case. According to Brian Cummins, a councilman who represents the district where the women were found, the suspect’s name is Ariel Castro. He once worked for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, a spokeswoman confirmed, but she didn’t have details about how long he was with the district or under what circumstances he left.
Two others also arrested are reportedly Castro’s brothers.
Neighbors say they heard someone screaming for help and kicking a door. They told the woman, Berry, how to get out and allowed her call police.
Berry told a 911 dispatcher, “I’ve been kidnapped.”
Vera E. Schwarz
Vera E. Schwarz, 90, of Elwood, passed away May 4, 2013, at Elwood Care Center in Elwood.
Vera Elizabeth Hock was born to Fred and Helena Maria (Baumgartner) Hock, in Waterloo, Iowa, on May 14, 1922. She was baptized at Trinity American Church in Waterloo. When she was a year old, Vera’s family moved to a farm northwest of Strawberry Point, Iowa, and lived in that area for many years. Vera graduated from Strawberry Point High School in 1939, where she received normal school training in order to obtain her elementary school teaching certificate on her 18th birthday. She then taught country schools in the Strawberry Point area for the next 10 years. One of the schools she taught in was one her mother attended as a child, near St. Sebald Lutheran Church.
Until 1947, Vera was able to teach on a “war certificate,” but that summer she enrolled at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, in order to renew her regular teaching certificate. There she met a young soon-to-be seminarian from North Dakota, Richard Schwarz.
On July 29, 1951, Vera and Richard Walter Schwarz of Hazen, N.D., were married at St. Sebald Lutheran Church by Vera’s brother, and they spent the next year living in a small trailer at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. While Dick, as Vera called him, finished his final year of seminary, Vera taught at a local rural school. The couple’s first parish was Zion Lutheran Church in Kulm, N.D. The family then moved to Parkston, S.D., in 1957, where they served for 12 ½ years. A call to St. John’s Lutheran Church moved them to Eustis for seven years, and then they moved to Long Lake, S.D. Vera and Richard retired to Elwood in 1988. Vera and Richard had four children, Jonathan, Kathryn, Joel and Steven.
Vera was a faithful servant of the Lord in her ministry as a pastor’s wife. She accompanied her husband much of the time on his pastoral calls as well as teaching Sunday school, conducting Bible Studies and ministering to their congregations with a warm and caring personality as well as with her wonderful cooking and baking talents. Vera’s glazed donuts were sinfully delicious and are remembered fondly by all who were able to enjoy them.
Vera’s great sense of humor and enthusiastic laughter will also not soon be forgotten. She loved to make you smile. She was known as the card lady at the Elwood Senior Center where she recycled greeting cards for a number of years. She loved crossword puzzles and word games, but one of her great joys in life was playing UNO with the grandkids…sometimes she even let them win.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Pastor R.W. Schwarz, on March 19, 2013; her parents; her sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Orville Wandersee; and her brother and sister-in-law, Fred and Fern Hock.
Vera is survived by her sons, Jonathan (Carolyn) Schwarz, of Lincoln, Joel (Maria) Schwarz, of Layton, Utah, and Steve Schwarz, of Arapahoe; her daughter, Kathy Gundell, of Eustis; eight grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren, Jeremy (Brooke) Schwarz and Gavin, both of Lincoln, Jennifer (Dayne) Crawford and Brooklyn, both of Goodyear, Ariz., Amanda (Bryant) Brockmeier and Lane Baxter, Evan, Reid, and Jeannae, all of Eustis, James (Gwen) Gundell and Turner and Jaxson, all of Gothenburg, Christopher Schwarz, of Sioux Falls, S.D., Adam (Jessica) Schwarz and Jaleigh and Reese, all of Suffolk, Va., Danielle (fiancé, Scott Woodstock) Schwarz and Samuel Schwarz, both of Layton, Utah; her brother, Pastor A.L. (Gerda) Hock, of Strawberry Point, Iowa; her sisters-in-law, Pauline (Melvin) Brinkmeyer, of Eureka, S.D., and Eva (Richard) Newkirk, of Gehanna, Ohio; as well as many nieces, nephews, friends and relatives.
Memorials are suggested to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America or the American Diabetes Association . Online condolences to the family may be shared at reynoldslove funeralhome.com.
Funeral Celebration of Life Service will be at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 8, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Eustis with Pastor Harold Laursen officiating. Burial will be at the St. John’s Lutheran East Cemetery at Eustis. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m., today, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Eustis. Reynolds-Love Funeral Home in Lexington is in charge of arrangements.
Laura Porter Reece
Laura Porter Reece, age 87 of North Platte, passed away on May 4, 2013 at her home surrounded by her children..
Laura was born on August 6, 1925 in Gothenburg, NE to Robert and Paulina (Heidebrink) Freeze. She attended school in North Platte. She married Fredrick “Mike” C. Porter on November 9, 1944 in Oberlin, KS and they had six children. Following Mike’s death, Laura married Tim Reece.
She loved her children and she liked playing Bingo. She was a good-hearted, caring woman who loved life.
Laura is survived by her children Michael (Gail) Porter of Chino, CA, Daniel (Joan) Porter of Chino, CA, David (Carol) Porter of Sidney, NE, Kathy “Kitty” (Andy) Cynova of North Platte, and Laurie Jones of North Platte; 18 grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren; and 1 great great grandchild.
She was preceded in death by an infant daughter Sandra Porter; husband Fredrick “Mike” Porter; and her oldest grandchild Charity Ann Porter in 2010.
Online condolences may be made at www.adamsswanson.com. Christian Wake services will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday May 7, 2013 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday May 8, 2013 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church with Reverend Neal Hock officiating. Visitation will be 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Tuesday May 7, 2013 at Adams and Swanson Funeral Home which is in charge of arrangements.
Frontier Revue Auditions to Be Held at North Platte Community Playhouse
Auditions for the 2013 NEBRASKAland Days Frontier Revue will be held at the Patty Birge Room of the Neville Center for the Performing Arts on May 8 and 9 at 7:30 each night.
The Frontier Revue is a musical tribute to life on the Plains and is part of Nebraskaland Days. The performance dates will be June 9-13. Men and women are encouraged to try out. No preparation is necessary unless the performer wants to sing a solo.
People under 16 will be required to have a responsible adult with them during all rehearsals and performances.
For more information, contact Donna Pucket at 530-1597 or Anne Schmit at 535-3747.