Betty A. "Alene" Rucker

Hastings resident Betty A. “Alene” Rucker, 102, passed away Sunday, August 4, 2024, at Mary Lanning Healthcare, Hastings, NE. 

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 17, at First United Methodist Church in Hastings with Rev. Lance Clay officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Hastings. Visitation will be 1-7 p.m. with the Rucker family present 5-7 p.m. Friday, August 16, at the funeral home, and one hour before the service at the church. Memorials may be given to the First United Methodist Church or the family. The service will be live-streamed on Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home’s website. To view the service, go to Alene’s obituary and click the play button shown towards the bottom of the page. 

Alene was born April 29, 1922, in McCook, NE to Allen and Ethel (Wagy) Thompson. Alene attended school in McCook and Red Willow Consolidated School, graduating from Red Willow High School in 1940. She attended Hastings Business College and worked at Hastings College. She married Bliss E. Tanner in March 1946; he preceded her in death. They had three sons, Thomas (Carol), Richard, and Robert (Korrine), and one daughter, Anne (Dan) Cantrell. The couple lived in Hastings and Red Cloud. Alene married Morland “Moe” D. Rucker on August 12, 2002, in Estes Park, CO. They lived in Hastings. 

Alene was a secretary in the science division and registrar’s office at Hastings College and the Webster County Bank in Red Cloud. She retired in 1988. She was an active member of First United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, Stephen Ministries, and Rebekah Lodge 312. She had previously been President of the Wes-So-Braska Girl Scout Council. She and her Girl Scout troop were active in the Willa Cather restoration and the Willa Cather Museum in Red Cloud, NE.

Alene was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Bliss E. Tanner; son, Thomas Tanner; daughter-in-law, Korrine Tanner, and step-son-in-law, Carl Bauman. 

SURVIVORS:
Husband: 
    Morland “Moe” Rucker
Children & Spouse: 
    Richard Tanner
    Robert Tanner
    Anne & Dan Cantrell
Step-Daughters & Spouse: 
    Velva & Joel Starr
    Vonna Bauman
Granddaughters & Spouses: 
    Dana & Kevin Rindal
    Erika & Derek Buse
Great-Grandchildren: 
    Grant & Logan Rindal
    Layla & Lily Buse
Step-Grandchildren: 
    Alan & Becky Scott
    Brent Bauman
    Chad & Britney Daugherty
    Adam Starr
    Jessica Cropper
    Seth Jensen
Step-Great-Grandchildren: 
    Jason & Jessica Scott
    Blake Bauman
    Riley & Elijah Daugherty