Stories from Tuesday, September 30, 2003

The view from near Trenton on Monday is actually a sunrise, so perhaps it was a harbinger of the arrival of fall. Tuesday's projected high of 55 makes it clear that fall is arriving in time for the calendar to change to October. Pleasant weather in the 70s is expected to return to the Golden Plains later in the week...

Regina "Maxine" Bishop died Sunday, Sept. 14, 2003, at her home in McCook. She was 83 years old. Maxine was born on March 5, 1920, at Hildreth, to Elvaro Madison and Esther Mabel (Mason) Carpenter. The family moved to Wauneta when she was five years old. She graduated from Wauneta High School in 1938. Shortly after graduation, she traveled by train to Los Angeles, Calif., and attended Woodbury College where she graduated with a business degree in 1939...

Alberta I. Steffen, 87, died Thursday (Sept. 18, 2003) at McCook Community Hospital. She was born on March 28, 1916, in Diller to Albert B. and Emily I. (Wilcox) Steffen. She lived all of her life in Southwest Nebraska. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church...

SUN CITY, Ariz. -- Maurine (Claus) McNeice, 88, died Sunday (Sept. 14, 2003) in Sun City, Ariz. She was born Sept. 14, 1903, to Conrad and Millie (Spahn) Claus in Sutton. The family moved to Culbertson when she was young and she graduated from Culbertson High School in 1932...

ARAPAHOE -- John Raymond Franssen, 60, died Sunday (Sept. 21, 2003) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born Dec. 18, 1942, to Joseph J. and Alverna L. (Fablinger) Franssen in Denver, Colo. He was raised in Denver and attended Mapelton High School and graduated with the class of 1961. After finishing school he worked for the Colorado Public Service Department building transmission towers and the Colorado State Highway Department...

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Julie Elizabeth Strohwig, 88, died Monday (Sept. 22, 2003) at Columbia Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo. She was born June 19, 1915, to J.K. and Ella (Dickerson) Colvin in Eldorado, Kan. She married Frank LeRoy Strohwig. She was a registered nurse...

TRENTON -- Hilda Shaffer, age 78, passed away Sept. 23, 2003. She was born to Pete and Jenny (VanDyke) Nyp in Palco, Kan., Sept. 23, 1925. Hilda grew up and graduated in Palco, after which she worked in various cafes. While working at Ellsworth, Kan., she met and married Dick Shaffer. To this union a son, Merlin, was born. They called Trenton home. Hilda cooked at the Soo Paw Cafe for 30 years. She loved to cook and was a great seamstress and homebody...

LINCOLN -- Eleanor E. Smith of Culbertson, 81, died Wednesday (Sept. 24, 2003) at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lincoln. She was born Jan. 20, 1922, to Henry and Elizabeth (Rutz) Schlager in McCook. In the fall of 1922, the family moved to Culbertson where Eleanor grew up and graduated from Culbertson High School in 1940...

ATWOOD -- Marie "Mary" Frances Hajek Cahoj, 93, died Thursday (Sept. 25, 2003). She was born Aug. 16, 1910, to Frank and Agnes (Steiner) Hajek on a farm north of Pilsen, Kan., in Marion County. She attended grade school at the St. John Nepomucene School in Pilsen. She graduated from Lincolnville High School in 1928...

BENKELMAN -- Marie Helen Talmon, 94, died Friday (Sept. 26, 2003) at Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman. She was born May 30, 1909, to Joseph and Josephine (Meyers) Svantner in Hazen, Ark. She moved with her family to Nebraska at an early age.  She graduated from high school in St. Paul...

BEAVER CITY -- Joseph P. Kellogg, 87, died Saturday (Sept. 27, 2003) at Beaver City Manor in Beaver City. He was born July 11, 1916, to Oscar and Flora (Batchelor) Kellogg. He grew up in Furnas County. When he was 17 he moved to Idaho. In 1936, he married Verna Wheeler in Haley, Idaho. ...

LOVELAND, Colo. -- Irvin D. Hopkins, 77, died Thursday (Sept. 25, 2003) in Loveland, Colo. He was born May 3, 1926, to Bert and Sarah (Blanke) Hopkins in Venango. On Oct. 27, 1952, he married Irene McKain in McCook. He lived in Southwest Nebraska, farming and ranching, most of his life. He was the manager of the Palisade Grain Elevator for 10 years. He retired and moved to Loveland in 1988...

IMPERIAL -- William Leonard Sturtevant, 84, died Thursday (Sept. 25, 2003) at Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial. He was born June 17, 1919, to Thomas L. and May (Miller) Sturtevant on the family farm north of Wauneta. He attended country school and graduated from Wauneta District No. 31 in 1937. He went to Agriculture College in Lincoln for two years. He then returned to the Wauneta area to farm...

WICHITA, Kan. -- Clint Dean Flock, 20, died Thursday (Sept. 18, 2003) in Wichita, Kan. He was born Aug. 23, 1983, to Dean and Theresa (Barton) Flock in Wichita. He worked as a manufacturing assembler in Wichita. Survivors include his parents; one sister, Shannon; grandparents, Cal and Nancy Harper of Wichita; and many family members in the Southwest Nebraska area...

NORCATUR -- Marguerite Eleanor Temple, 92, died Monday (Sept. 22, 2003) at Cedar Living Center in Oberlin. She was born Nov. 12, 1910, to John Henry and Mary (Hockett Mapes) New in Colby, Kan. On Dec. 21, 1929, she married Gerald Temple. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Gerald; and three brothers, Bob, Art and Pete...

BENKELMAN -- Lannie D. Krutsinger, the sixth child of Louis and Doris (Wiggins) Krutsinger, was born Dec. 27, 1963, in Benkelman, his lifetime home, where he grew into manhood. He attended Benkelman Elementary School and graduated in 1982 from Benkelman High School. He was involved in all athletics...

Nebraska is a small state, and sooner or later, everyone will meet at Lincoln. I just wrote that adage myself, but my wife is already a firm believer. At BryanLGH for her father's triple bypass, Candy was reminded that it really is a small state. "So you're the ones who bumped my father!" said Linda Thurman of McCook, commenting on how her father's heart surgery had been delayed so my father-in-law's bypass could proceed first. ...

Matt Bergen of Paxton and "Whirlwind" of Copeland, Kan.,, visit during the fourth annual Grand Duke Alexis Rendezvous at Camp Haes Lake, which commemorates a buffalo hunt led by Buffalo Bill Cody, Gen. George Custer and Gen. Phil Sheridan in 1872.

CURTIS -- The Nebraska Army National Guard wants to provide the best training it can for its helicopter pilots. The Guard proposes training flights in the hills and canyons of northern Frontier County, northwest Dawson County and southeast Lincoln County because they are similar to the terrain of the Balkan States in which Guard pilots are flying medical evacuation missions...