Obituaries

Funeral Service for Agnes M. Richstein, age 89, of Ainsworth was held on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at the Evangelical Free Church near Ainsworth. Interment followed in the Ainsworth Cemetery. Agnes Richstein passed away Thursday, April 7, 2022 at the Brown County Hospital in Ainsworth.

The story of Sondra Mae [Popham] Herian began in North English, IA on June 28, 1938. The final chapter was March 27, 2022. She was ten years old when the family moved to Johnstown, NE. She was happiest hunting and doing carpentry with her father, Ward Popham. She did not consider being in the kitchen with her mother, Margaret (Schelm) Popham very fun. The irony being Sondra’s cooking skills would become her trademark.

Carol Dean Ritz was born June 11, 1940, in Ashton, NE, to Clarence and Alma (Knoepfel) Ritz. She had two older brothers, Clarence and Richard, and a younger sister, Ellen. Carol attended elementary school and high school in Ashton, NE, graduating in 1958.

Lois K. Magill was born on August 5, 1946 and passed away on March 16, 2022.

Ervin was born on June 3, 1938 and passed away on March 15, 2022 at his home in Las Vegas, NV at the age of 83. Born June 3, 1938 in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada to Jim and Bernadette Ferguson.

Leigh Ann had a fulfilling life as a wife, mother and grandmother in Norfolk, NE. She was born on February 8, 1934 and passed away on March 11, 2022.

Joseph Dale Belmont was born on January 14, 1957 in Anadarko, OK to Jim and Aloha (Lanz) Belmont. Joey was the youngest of four children. He moved to Nebraska when he was 14, and graduated from Rock County High School at Bassett in 1975.

Bonnie Welke, age 76, of Ainsworth and formerly of Ewing, entered into the Kingdom of Heaven to be with her Savior on Monday, March 7, 2022 at the Brown County Hospital in Ainsworth. Bonita Claire “Bonnie” Welke, the youngest of four children born to Leland “Andy” and Sibyl (Jefferies) Welke, was born on April 15, 1945 in Ewing, NE.

Edith Mae Keller was born September 2, 1924, on the old Magee place south of Johnstown, NE to Jens Gade Andersen and Kirsten (Nielsen) Andersen. She was the third child and the only girl in a family of three brothers, Einar, Elmer and Donovan.

Jo Ann (Lanz) Babcock was born April 4, 1936 in Stuart, NE to Fred and Emma (Haug) Lanz. Jo was the youngest of three daughters. She and her sisters had many cousins and spent a lot of time with them.