Hazel M. Riecken

Hazel M. Riecken, 90, of Bancroft, Nebraska died on Friday, December 19, 2008 at the Pender Care Center in Pender, Nebraska. A funeral service for Hazel will be held on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. at Bethany Lutheran Church in Lyons, Nebraska; Rev. Neal Mather will be officiating. The visitation will be held on Monday from 3:00 until 8:00 P.M. at the Munderloh Funeral Home in Bancroft. The family will be present from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. on Monday evening. Burial will be in the Lyons Cemetery. Hazel M. Kellett was born on January 27, 1918 at Elkhorn, Nebraska to Ernest and Mattie Kellett. She was baptized and confirmed by Rev. Beckman at Bethany Lutheran Church at Elkhorn. She attended school at District 13 South of Elkhorn. In her late teen years she ran a threshing crew with her father and also worked as a housekeeper for a large family on the western edge of Omaha. On June 8, 1938, she was united in marriage to Homer (Nick) Riecken at her parents’ home. A daughter, LaVon and a son, Bill completed their family. The couple farmed in the Elkhorn area, and after their children were in school, Hazel worked as a cook at various places including the Western Electric Plant at Millard. In 1965, they moved to a farm near Lyons, Nebraska, where they resided until having a farm sale and moving to Bancroft in 1988. Hazel enjoyed gardening and canning and doing cross stitch work. She completed a quilt for each of their five grandchildren and first great-grandchild, and then she was no longer able to do the stitching. Her husband, Homer passed away in 1994. After his death she was the cashier at her granddaughters business in Bancroft, where she enjoyed meeting many new people from a wide area. Failing health forced her to stop doing this in 2002. She entered the Pender Care Center in 2006, where she passed away on December 19, 2008. She is survived by a daughter LaVon and husband Jack Soll of Bancroft, a son Bill and wife Gloria Riecken of Lyons, grandchildren Bill and wife Lori Riecken of Lyons, Lisa Detlefsen of Paragould, AK, Emily and husband Chad Kahlandt of Hooper, Deanna and husband Kent Hansen of Rosalie, Mick and husband Michelle Soll of Bancroft. She is also survived by her great grandchildren Joshua Beutler; Chelsey and Devin Soll; Dakota, Montana and Arizona Riecken; Dylan and Garret Detlefsen; Abbie, Josie and Cooper Kahlandt; and Nicole and Megan Hansen; sisters-in-law Wilma Veskerna of Ord, Margaret Gibney of Fremont and Neva Kellett of Indianola, IA and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and a brother LaVern Kellett.