Florence J. Schaffert, 91, of Ogallala, formerly of the Maywood area, died Sept. 14, 2017, at Golden Ours Convalescent Home in Grant.
Florence was born on April 7, 1926, to Jessie and Elmer Russell on a farm near Wallace. Florence lived on the farm with her four sisters, Lois, Berdean, Annabelle and Beryl, and her brother, Frank. They lived on the farm until 1935, when her dad, Elmer, died from stroke. Her dad was 25 years older than her mother. Her mother moved the family into Wallace in a three-room house without running water.
Florence finished the fourth grade at Wallace Public School and her mother, Jessie, died from the flu and pneumonia in 1936. At the age of 9, Florence and her sisters, ages 6 and 12, were without a mother or father. Several people offered to adopt the girls individually. By this time the older siblings, Frank, Lois and Berdean were married and each took one of the girls. Florence started out living with her sister, Lois, and going to a country school. After a year, she moved in with her older brother, Frank, and his wife, Mary. By the time she was 14 years old, she moved back in with her older sister, Lois, and her husband, Harold, who lived on a farm near Kimball. Florence was in the eighth grade when she attended a small country school with only one other student. That fall, she stayed with Lois’s in-laws in Kimball and started high school in Kimball.
After the ninth grade, she moved back to Wallace and moved in with her sister, Annabelle, and her husband, Herbie, and got a job that summer. World War II was during this time, and when her brother-in-law Herbie got drafted into the U.S. Army, Florence, at the age of 16, moved to Wellfleet to stay with her sister, Berdean.
While attending a dance in Wellfleet, she met a young man by the name of Marvin “Bud” Schaffert, and that was the beginning of their courtship. Nine months later, Bud and Florence were married in April 1943 at the courthouse in North Platte. They had a son, Harry, and two daughters, Elaine and Charlotte. They lived on the Schaffert family farm in Hayes County, where a son and daughter were born. They farmed for nine years before moving to Curtis in 1952, where a daughter was born. Around 1954, they moved to Sidney and in 1956, they packed everything into a trailer pulled by their car and traveled to the Seattle area, where her husband worked for Boeing Aircraft.
Around 1958, they missed their home in the Midwest and moved to Colorado and later to Maywood, where Bud worked for Bullock Hardware. In 1966, her son Harry (Wilma) and husband Bud started up their own business, Hi-line Plumbing and Electric. Florence was involved in the business and worked in the store on many days. Later, Harry left the business and got a job with the U.S. Postal Service. Florence and Bud continued the business for many years and sold the business in 1983. They continued to enjoy their retirement years in Maywood until 1996, when they moved to Ogallala to be closer to their daughter, Elaine.
Florence said she didn’t know how to cook when she got married, but she learned and she was an outstanding cook. She canned a lot of fruits and veggies over the years. She really loved to cook and clean the house. Later in life, she started making beautiful quilts, which all her children and grandkids enjoy. She will be remembered for her wonderful meals and beautiful quilts.
Florence was preceded in death by her husband, Marvin; parents, Jessie and Elmer Russell; and her brother and sisters.
Surviving her are her son, Harry (Wilma) Schaffert of Lincoln; daughters, Elaine (Don) Eggert of Lemoyne and Charlotte Jones of Grand Junction, Colorado; six grandchildren, Tammy (Stacy) Mittlestaedt, Mike (Patty) Eggert, James (Latrice) Eggert, Scott (Adrienne) Tirrill, Tyson (Michelle) Schaffert and Shawn (Mary) Schaffert; seven great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
Memorials are suggested to the Maywood Methodist Church, P.O. Box 87, Maywood, NE 69038.
Services will be at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at Maywood United Methodist Church at Ash and Plum. Burial will follow at the Maywood Cemetery. Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Gothenburg, is in charge of arrangements.
Lloyd W. Behrens, 57, formerly of Grand Island, died Sept. 12, 2017, as the result of a farming accident near North Platte.
Harland Mark Morgan Jr., 76, of Warsaw, Missouri, passed away Sept. 6, 2017, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.
Nancy Kay Sitorius, 71, of Gothenburg, died Sept. 19, 2017 at Hilltop Estates in Gothenburg.
Shirley J. Farley, 77, of Hershey, passed away Sept. 19, 2017, at Denver Hospice Care Center, surrounded by her family and loved ones.
