Lenora Stulken

Former Hastings resident, Lenora Margaretha Stulken, 90, died Monday, February 25, 2008 at Brookestone Village, Omaha, Nebraska.

Services will be Monday, March 3, 2008; 11:00 A.M. at First St. Paul's Lutheran Church with Rev. Joel Remmers and Rev. Imogene Stulken officiating. Burial will be Monday, March 3, 2008; 2:30 P.M. in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, Nebraska. Memorials may be given to First St. Paul's Lutheran Church for mission work. Visitation will be Sunday, March 2, 2008; 1:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. at the funeral home with family present from 3:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. and Monday, March 3, 2008; 1 hr. prior to service at the church.

Mrs. Stulken was born June 1, 1917 to Albert & Mary (Reiners) Katzberg of Prosser, Nebraska. Lenora attended Adams County District 16 and graduated from Hastings High School. In order to attend Hastings High, which was some distance from her Prosser home, she worked for room & board in Hastings. After high school, she worked for several families doing housekeeping and child care. On September 22, 1940, she was united in marriage to Leon Victor Stulken, with whom she established a well-managed home of warmth, encouragement and affection. In September 2006, they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. During World War II, while Leon was overseas, she bought a small house in Hastings, where she lived with her two young daughters. To fill the lonely hours, she purchased an upright piano, on which she played hymns. That piano and her love of music and the hymns of the church were an invaluable influence in the lives of her children in later years. A woman of considerable artistic ability, Lenora created two lovely watercolor paintings as a teenager, and later turned her talents to her sewing-making countless outfits for her daughters and herself-and to her beautiful home and flower gardens. She will always be remembered for her wonderful home baked bread and rolls, and for all the delicious fruits and vegetables from her well-tended garden. Memorable also, was her fried chicken-chickens she had raised and dressed with care, and fried to perfection. She was an active member of First St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hastings, Nebraska, where she taught young children in the Sunday school for many years.

Mrs. Stulken was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Leon; two brothers, Walter & Wilbur Katzberg; and an infant son and infant daughter.

A devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, she will be sorely missed by many.

Survivors include, four children and their spouses: Marilyn & Thomas R. Rench of Racine, Wisconsin; Jeanette and Thomas E. Searson of Omaha; Imogene Stulken and Bruce Brolsma of Tewksbury, Massachusetts; Don and Carol Stulken of Marion, Iowa; seven grandchildren, Thomas L., Michael & Stephanie Searson; Kerstin Brolsma and Scott, David, & Laura Stulken; three sisters and two brothers-in-law; Thelma Augustin, Dora and Robert Hermann of Juniata, Nebraska; and Ruth and Eugene MacCasland of Prescott, Arizona; one sister-in-law, Irma Eigenberg of Hastings, and numerous nieces and nephews.