Deloris M. Stengel

May 3, 1923 - May 26, 2021

Deloris Marcella Stengel was born on May 3, 1923 to Emil and Anna Stengel on the farm near Shickley. She passed away peacefully on May 26, 2021 at the age of 98 years and 23 days at Fillmore County Hospital in Geneva, Nebraska. Deloris was a congenial, caring and determined individual who made her own way in life as a single woman, for many years, long before it was a commonplace thing to do. She made friends easily and cherished those relationships throughout her life. Deloris also dearly loved her family and, although the COVID-19 isolation was difficult for her, she persevered and was so happy to welcome in-person visitors again. Recently, Deloris was happy to mark her milestone 98th birthday which made her the longest-living sibling in her family. Deloris was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters and was the one who, for a time, ventured furthest from their Fillmore County home. Deloris grew up on the farmstead and did chores inside and outside of the house along with the rest of the family as they worked hard to survive the difficult years of the Great Depression. Deloris attended country school near Shickley and graduated with the Geneva High School class of 1940. Her first job was as a teacher in a one-room country schoolhouse like she had attended. She enjoyed young people and she later proudly displayed this fondness with her many great-nieces and great-nephews who she loved to visit, hear about and to provide gifts. Deloris was a capable woman who struck out on her own and eventually moved to Lincoln as a telephone operator for the Lincoln Telephone Company. Deloris loved the job and made many lifelong friends at the company which employed her for 35 years. After retirement in 1995, she continued to stay in touch with her friends from the telephone company and for several years had monthly lunches with them. Deloris had numerous interests and was particularly passionate about travel, sports, and visiting her family. In some instances, she was able to do both, as in traveling to Los Angeles with her sister Margaret to visit her nephew Rich Mueller and wife Shirley. She also enjoyed vacations to Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwest. Her Lincoln apartment was full of knick-knacks and collectibles that she kept as mementoes of her many trips. She was especially happy in the latter part of her life to travel to places with her very special friend, Cort Emery. They visited many locations together with a lot of them involving their shared hobbies of enjoying casinos, horse racing tracks and seeing Nebraska football. They often traveled to their destinations by car with the road trips providing just as much fun as the destinations themselves. Deloris was a passionate Nebraska Cornhusker fan and loved to talk about the teams’ results and prospects whether it be football, basketball, baseball or volleyball. She was an especially-devoted fan of Big Red Football; and she and Cort attended every home game from their season-ticket seats on the 45-yard line of the West Stadium. They considered themselves as Snow Birds and each winter they’d spend in Sun City, Arizona making day trips to various places and going to spring training baseball games of the Chicago Cubs and other major league teams. Eventually Deloris’ Fillmore County roots called her back to Geneva where she and Cort resided at Heritage Crossings. They were active participants in the community life at Heritage and also enjoyed watching the Kansas City Royals and all of the University of Nebraska teams play on TV. Cort passed away in 2015, and Deloris carried on as independent as ever, playing cards with the gang, and enjoying the exercise routines, bingo and weekly Mass; but did rely on her niece Janet to help her with the many necessities of a near-centenarian. Deloris called Heritage Crossings “home” for over seven years and made many friends among the residents and compassionate caregiving team. Deloris is survived by her niece Janet Bartak of Geneva; and nieces Genene (Stengel) Bowen and husband Ron of Springfield; DeAnna (Stengel) Strothkamp of Cortland; Mary (Stengel) Kopecky of Kansas City; and Judy (Stengel) Zimmer of Lincoln; as well as, nephews Leroy Rohr and wife Deb of Tobias; Gerald Stengel and wife Loydeen of Shickley; Danny Stengel and wife Jeanette of Joplin, Missouri; and Dale Stengel and wife Jeanette of Geneva. Deloris is also survived by many great-nieces and great-nephews, and their children, living in Nebraska, California, Georgia and Colorado who she much enjoyed seeing and hearing about. She was preceded in death by her parents Emil and Anna Stengel; brothers Ernest Stengel, John Stengel and Charlie Stengel; and sisters Anna (Stengel) Mueller, Gertrude Stengel, and Margaret (Stengel) Rohr, as well as her special friend Cort Emery. Deloris was a lifelong Catholic and baptized in St. Mary’s Church at Turkey Creek. She was also a faithful member of St. Mary’s Parish in Lincoln, and more recently, a devoted and generous member of St. Joseph’s Parish in Geneva. A Funeral Mass for Deloris was held on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Geneva. A Rosary was prayed at 10:00 a.m., prior to the Mass. Judy Rada accompanied Geriann Rada in the singing of “Be Not Afraid,” “You Are Mine,” “On Eagles’ Wings,” “Song Of Farewell,” and “Go In Peace.” Pallbearers for the service included Gerald Stengel, Dale Stengel, Dan Stengel, Ron Bowen, Leroy Rohr, Jeff Bartak, Stan Bartak, and Dale Korbelik. Interment was held in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery following the Funeral Mass. Farmer & Son Funeral Home was in care of the arrangements and online condolences can be left at https://www.farmerandsonfuneralhome.com/ Memorials are suggested to the St. Joseph Catholic Church.