Shirley Mae (Brauch) Nickeson

Shirley Mae (Brauch) Nickeson, 91, died on Monday, December 27, 2021. She was born on September 19, 1930 in Oketo, Kansas to Irvin and Henrietta (Novotny) Brauch. At the age of two, the family moved to a farm near Diller. There she spent her childhood and attended a rural school for 8 years. Shirley graduated from Diller High School in 1947. After her graduation, at age 16, she taught at a rural school southeast of Ellis for 3 years. On August, 21, 1949, she married William H. Nickeson at St. Paul Lutheran church in Diller. They had 4 children. One son, Bill, and 3 daughters, Karen, Connie and Kathy. In 1959 they joined Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Wymore where all their children were confirmed. This was about the time that they moved to the farm south of Beatrice. They farmed south of Beatrice until retiring in 1994 when they moved to Beatrice. Shirley loved gardening and growing flowers. She liked playing Conasta and Bridge with her friends and all their travels with the camper. Her hobbies were feeding and watching the birds, especially the cardinals and bluebirds. She looked forward to the monthly Saturday night out with her siblings and Saturday morning coffee.

Shirley is survived by a son, Bill (Linda) Nickeson of Columbus; daughters, Karen (Mike) Janssen, Connie (Joel) Cacek, both of Lincoln and Kathy (Jerry) Hill of Seward; grandchildren, Angie (Paul) Schlender, Robby (Kendra) Nickeson, both of Lincoln, Carter Nickeson of Columbus, Whitney (Josh) Granger of Mississippi, Alec (Alyssa) Prokupek of Elkhorn, Morgan (Brant) Reichmuth of Lincoln, Jackson Prokupek of Columbus, Marc (Jenn) Hausmann of Lincoln, Nick Janssen of Auburn, Cortney Page, Kevin (Rebecca) Cacek, both of Lincoln, Jen (Ben) Vineyard, Jacob (Al) Hill, both of Lincoln, Jessica (Adam) Snoberger of Grand Island, Johanna (Matt) Kadavy of Auburn; 28 great grandchildren; her brother, Neil Brauch, sister, Beverly Jurgens; sisters-in-law, Myrna Brauch and Bethel Riens; and brother-in-law, Robert Brumgardt. She is preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, William H. Nickeson; parents, Irvin and Henrietta (Novotny) Brauch; in-laws, William and Mae Nickeson, Evelyn and Earl Tiemann, Virgil Riens; 3 siblings, Gayle Brauch, Donna Brumgardt and Sondra DeWitt; 2 brothers-in-law, Frank Jurgens and Jerry DeWitt; sister-in-law, Bev Brauch; and one grandson-in-law, Anthony E. Page.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 AM Friday, December 31, 2021 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Wymore with Rev. Benjamin Vineyard and Rev. Adam Snoberger officiating. Inurnment will be at a later date in the Evergreen Home Cemetery in Beatrice. Visitation will be held on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at Harman-Wright Mortuary in Beatrice from 2 to 8 PM with family greeting friends from 6 to 8 PM. Memorials are suggested to the family’s choice in care of the mortuary. Harman-Wright Mortuary & Crematory in Beatrice in charge of arrangements.

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