Merna Jane (Schick) Elson died May 24, 2017, at Linden Court Nursing Home. She was 93 years, 6 months and 12 days young.
She was born on Nov. 13, 1923, in Lincoln County to Chris and Jennie Lincoln Schick. She was the youngest of five children. Merna and her family lived next to Chris’ widowed mother Christiana Schick in the Fox Creek community north of Curtis. Chris farmed with his mom. Merna’s mom Jennie went to Christiana’s home every day to help her care for her invalid daughter Emma. Merna loved her tiny stern German grandmother. Christiana loved her little black-haired granddaughter too.
Merna followed her brothers to Fox Creek School every day. Her parents finally let her start school at age 4. Wild strawberries were plentiful along Fox Creek. The berries started a lifelong love affair for Merna. Merna graduated at age 16 from the Nebraska School of Agriculture. She was a marching cadet for the Aggies. She was an honor roll student. She had taken normal training in high school.
She started teaching in a Stockville country school. She taught there for four years. Merna said she loved teaching and that she had some “pretty rowdy boys, but they were good kids.” She taught two years at the Mesa school north of Curtis. As a child during the Great Depression in the 1930s, Merna had $850 saved when she quit teaching to marry Tom Elson on Aug. 11, 1946.
Merna’s faith journey began by observing her maternal grandparents, John and Mary Lincoln of North Platte, pray at meals and at bedtime. Chris and Jennie belonged to the Pleasant Home Church north of Curtis. They didn’t baptize their children as babies. Merna joined the Pleasant Home Church in 1942. She transferred her membership to the Curtis Methodist Church after her marriage. At the time of her death, she had been a church member for 75 years. She taught Sunday and Bible school. She was active in Methodist Women. She cooked for potluck and funeral dinners. She wrote greeting cards and letters to family and friends to let them know that she cared about them.
Tom and Merna began married life in a farmhouse north of Curtis on property known as the school section. Merna was a dedicated hardworking farm/ranch wife and the mother of four children, Beth, Dale, Richard and Eldon. She cooked, cleaned, gardened and raised chickens. Tom and Merna opened Farmers Oil in 1976. They sold gas. Tom hauled fuel to farms and ranches. They had a Laundromat and a tire shop. Eldon said gas was 53 cents a gallon in 1976. Merna ran Farmers Oil for one more year after Tom died in 1997.
Merna was a 50-year member of the Busy Homemakers Extension club. She was a 4-H leader for the Fox Creek 4-H Club. She was a lifelong Husker fan. She loved to cook and entertain for family and friends. Family events were recorded and published in the local paper. Merna was proud of the fact that she was a two-time breast cancer survivor.
The most important thing in Merna’s life was the Lord Jesus Christ and her family. She had a kindness about her that came with a gentle heart. She was a wonderful mom. Merna was the kind of mom that lifted you up when you couldn’t fly. She thought of others before herself. Her last words to her family were “I love you.”
She was preceded in death by her parents, Chris and Jennie Schick; husband, Tom Elson; son, Dale Elson; grandson, Travis Miller; brothers-in-law, George Elson, Earl Elson and Fritz Wolff; brothers and sisters-in-law, Ward Schick, Warren (Irene) Schick, John (Marian) Schick and Bob (Delores) Schick.
Merna is survived by her children, Beth (Bob) Miller of Pawnee City, daughter-in-law Lorinda Elson of Curtis, Richard Elson of Curtis and Eldon (Sue) of Curtis; eight grandchildren, Jennifer Miller of Edgerton, Kansas, Amanda Miller of Lawrence, Kansas, Anita Blum (Jason) of Henderson, Dr. Jody Elson of Wichita, Kansas, Lisa Elson of Denver, Lindsey Elson of Omaha, Cassidy Elson of Nebraska City and Rob (Adessa) Elson of Nebraska City; stepgrandchildren, Burt (Denisa) Davis of North Platte, Cindy (Jason) Krupicka of Curtis, Becky Gray of Curtis, Daniel (Shelly) Davis of Beatrice, Daniel (Shelly) Davis Beatrice and Matthew (Lee) Davis of Curtis; five great-grandchildren and eight step-great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Dorothy Schick of Custer, South Dakota, Jean Elson of North Platte and Wilma Wolff of Blair; one cousin, Marylin Hansen of North Platte; one very special cousin-in-law, Joan Wetzel of Corvallis, Oregon; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends who loved her.
Memorials are suggested to the Curtis Methodist Church, 402 Center, Curtis, NE 69025; or Great Plains Health Care Foundation for the maternal simulator project, P.O. Box 1167, North Platte, NE 69103.
Services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, at the First United Methodist Church, 402 Center, Curtis, with Pastor Emmanuel Afful officiating. Burial will be at the Curtis Cemetery, RD 391, Curtis, NE 69025. Visitation will be from 1-8 p.m., with the family present from 4-6 p.m., on Friday June 2, at Blase-Wetzel-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Curtis, which is in charge of arrangements.
