Obituaries

Francis L. “Corky” Kemp passed away on December 14, 2025, at Great Plains Health at the age of 82.

Word has been received of the death of James L. Strong, age 87, of Ainsworth, NE.

Thomas Joseph Kennedy, Sr. 86, of Callaway, NE, passed away on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at his home, surrounded by his loving family.

Barbara Emma (Vrbka) Schmit passed away December 1, in North Platte, NE. She was born October 5, 1922, in Ulysses, NE to Lou and Emma Vrbka.

Robert (Bob) J. Lower was born August 11, 1935, at home north of Valentine, NE to Roy and Luella (Grooms) Lower. He passed away November 22, 2025 at Rock County Long Term Care. He attended Harmony grade school and graduated from Valentine Rural High School in 1955. During his senior year he met the love of his life, Evelyn Starr. Bob joined the United States Army and left right after graduation for boot camp in Fort Chaffee, AR. While on leave in November of 1955 he asked Evelyn to marry him the next time he was home. To everyone’s surprise, Bob came home for Christmas and they married on December 26, 1955. They had a short time together as husband and wife before Bob was stationed in Korea for the next 18 months, working as a mail clerk. They would have been married 70 years this year.

Donald George Chauncey, 67, was born September 19, 1958, in Winner, SD, to LeRoy and Clarice Chauncey. On November 12, 2025, in Manhattan, KS, his Lord and Savior unexpectedly called him home.

Alice Riege, age 101, a longtime resident of the Kilgore and Crookston areas, passed away on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the Garden County Health Services Hospital in Oshkosh, NE. Visitation was held at Holmes Funeral Home in Valentine on Thursday, November 20, 2025, from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Barbara “Bobbie” Ann Lesher of Valentine Nebraska died peacefully at Sandhill’s Care Center in Ainsworth Nebraska on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Bobbie was born in Grand Island, NE on June 10, 1928, to Bernie and Anne McGuire.

Raymond D. “Jack” McAndrew, 90, of Elkhorn, passed away November 16, 2025. He was preceded in death by wife, Connie; parents, Leota and “Scotchie”; brother, Ross “Slim”; and sister Janice Wanser.

Wendy Elaine Way was born on November 15, 1970, in Washtenaw County, Ypsilanti, MI, to Claudia Jean Syrell and Alburn Phillip Way. She passed away on November 8, 2025, at her home in Valentine, NE at the age of 54.