Ione J. Schelbitzki

A Memorial Service for Ione will be Monday, December 30, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Geneva, Nebraska. Kim Dunker will preside over the Memorial Service. A private Graveside Service will be held in the Ohiowa Public Cemetery. Public visitation will be Sunday, December 29, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with family present from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Farmer & Son Funeral Home in Geneva. Memorials are suggested to Ohiowa American Legion Auxiliary and the Ohiowa Public Cemetery. Ione June Schelbitzki passed away peacefully on December 26th, 2024 in Geneva, Nebraska at the age of 104 years, 5 months, and 29 days. She was born in Plana, South Dakota on June 27, 1920 to Rudy & Mamie (Hemen) Vitense. She grew up on a farm near Columbia, South Dakota and graduated from Columbia High School. Ione married Lloyd D. Schelbitzki on December 21, 1940 and to this union, 5 children were born: JeNeane (H. Roger) Dodson, Lincoln, Nebraska; Audene (Leland) Bird, Loveland, Colorado; Layne (Vicki) Schelbitzki; Western, Nebraska; Penni (Fred) Bruning, Bruning, Nebraska; and Jay Schelbitzki, Santa Rosa, California. To their family they added 12 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren: JeNeane’s children; Whitney Dodson, and his daughters Jillian and Grace, and daughter Alesia and her husband Bill Spangler, and their daughters-, Cameron, and Elsa; Audene’s children; son Brad and wife Kalina Webb and daughters Emily and Lindsey, daughter Kristy and husband Peter Oberhammer and their children Macie, Alec and Julia, and son Dan Webb; Layne and wife Vicki’s children; son Todd and wife Danielle Schelbitzki and their son Blayne, son Dusty and wife Angie Schelbitzki, and their children , Easton and Emery, daughter Stacy and husband Craig Lutjemeyer, and their children Lani and Alli, son Ryan and wife Shelby Schelbitzki, and their children Remi and Ruby: Penni and husband Fred’s children; son Adam and wife Carley Bruning, and their children Frankie, Charlee and Liam, daughter Abby and husband Dr. Nick Branting, and their children Annika and Lukas, son Reiss and wife Heather, and their son Henry. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mamie (Hemen) and Rudolph John Henry Vitense; her husband, Lloyd D.; sons, Jay and Layne; sisters, Myrtle Sieber, Myrtis Daly, Elaine Frohling, Wanda Stange, Shirley Dayton; brothers, Bob Vitense and Forrest Vitense; and sons-in-law, Jack Webb, Roger H. Dodson, and Leland Bird. She is survived by her children/family, JeNeane Dodson of Lincoln, Nebraska, Audene Bird of Loveland, Colorado, Vicki Schelbitzki (daughter-in-law) of Western, Nebraska, and Penni and husband, Fred D. Bruning of Bruning, Nebraska; 12 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren; sisters, Mavis Lief and Muriel Oles; and brother, Neil Vitense. Ione was a member of Geneva United Methodist Church, Geneva Mother’s Club, and a 79 year member of the Ohiowa American Legion Auxiliary. Ione was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She had various community interests and enjoyed hobbies, especially quilting. She was a great gardener, baker and canner, but most important of all was her large family of loved ones that she loved dearly. The youngest of 3 girls, Ione June was born in a country farm house near Plano, South Dakota. When she was 4, the family moved to a farm north of Columbia, South Dakota. At age 6, her mother was hospitalized after a miscarriage and died of peritonitis. This was a traumatic time for the little girls. A hired lady moved in to keep house and care for the girls. After 2 years, Rudy married Lois Hemen. To this union, 8 children would be born into the family. After graduation from Columbia High School, Ione worked for 2 years caring for older women and mothers with newborns in their homes. She always loved babies! Meanwhile, on the farm, her father owned a thrashing machine and every summer hired a crew that came through South and North Dakota to help with the harvest. Among them were brothers Frank Jr. and Lloyd Schelbitzki from Nebraska. Lloyd started dating Ione (local dances) and he decided to stay for the fall corn harvest which was picked by hand. The dancing continued and Ione and Lloyd were married that winter on December 21, 1940. They moved to Nebraska to a little house on his dad’s land. Lloyd helped farm, had 1 milk cow and a few chickens. Baby JeNeane was born in the little house on a hot summer day. That fall Lloyd passed a test and was hired to work as a draftsman for Lockheed Aircraft Co. in Burbank, California. They bought a small trailer house pulled by their Model A Ford and with the baby on mother’s lap, they headed west. Just like the old Lucille Ball movie, their trailer was too heavy to pull up the Rocky Mountains, so, Ione had to sell all her home canned jars of tomatoes (2 for $.50) to a woman in Colorado and then they were able to get through the mountains. They were in California for 3 years. A second daughter, Audene, was born in January 1944 and soon after, Lloyd was drafted into the Navy and they moved to Norman, Oklahoma for his basic training – living on the University of Oklahoma campus in a beautiful big fraternity house. Lloyd was to be based in California, so he moved Ione and their 2 little girls to an apartment in Columbia, South Dakota to be near her family. Lloyd eventually deployed to the Philippines. When WWII ended, the family again moved back to Nebraska to Lloyd’s “homeplace” – a large 4 square farmhouse where he was born and was built by his father, located between Ohiowa and Strang, near Harmony country school. It was a good life on the farm. Lloyd and Ione were a successful team and they worked hard. She kept busy with her chickens, the garden, a large orchard of fruit trees, church activities, teaching Sunday school and sewing clothes for the children. Layne was born in February 1950; Penni in March 1954 and Jay in October 1956. A fun busy family with lots of birthday parties and good cakes! Ione always took time to play or read with the kids – when she wasn’t hanging wash on the line to dry! She was always willing to play games or cards and liked to entertain neighbors and friends. Often making homemade ice cream and her special chocolate sauce. Then came the grandchildren – and lots of cookies and kool-aid. A fond memory was a blackboard that hung near the back door. That blackboard was a message board that had dates and times of where they were to be, so that coming home from school the kids knew what field they were in or often times a meter reading was written down. After 40 years, Lloyd and Ione sold their farm home and buildings that had been in the Schelbitzki family for 100 years. In 1987 they moved to Geneva where they lived in their brick house on 8th Street for 30 years. They especially enjoyed traveling south during the winter months from 1980 to 1998 to Texas and then Yuma, Arizona to be close to her many brothers and sisters who were also there to enjoy warmer weather. They made friends easily and were always entertaining. A large map was always displayed in their home marking 49 of the 50 states they had visited (they never made it to Maine). Ione never missed a chance to visit or take a meal to those that needed some comfort, always taking along her children to witness the ways of her Christian fellowship, and serving. They were married 68 years when Lloyd died in 2008. Ione stayed in her house for several more years before choosing to move to Heritage Assisted Living in 2017. Ione June has more June’s in the family to carry on her name-Penni June, Abby June, Annika June, Charlee June, and her namesake - especially Alli Ione. She was not one to ever sit idle. If she was sitting, she was mending, sewing, or crocheting her famous dish scrubbers. A family member, Nick, lovingly named the scrubbers- “The Ioneator”. She was a kind, loving, energetic, strong – willed little woman. Each member of her family has a quilt that she made especially for them – even the grand babies and the great grandchildren! She will be remembered as a person small in stature, but with an enormous heart for loving and caring for others.

Tributes

Ione J. Schelbitzki

June 27, 1920 - December 26, 2024