Obituaries

Meredith Duane “Punk” Worth was born on April 3, 1931, in Winner, SD to Elwood and Frances (McBride) Worth. Punk passed away in his ranch home surrounded by loved ones May 2, 2023, at the age of 92 years and 29 days. After Meredith was born, his mother took him home in a shoebox. He was so small (weighing just four pounds at birth), his mom called him her little “Pumpkin Seed”. It didn’t take long for “Pumpkin Seed” to become “Punk”, and to this day, many people do not know Punk’s given name on his birth certificate. Punk attended numerous grade schools in Keya Paha County and graduated from Keya Paha County High School in 1948. On May 18, 1952, Punk married Enid Lorraine Graham in Ainsworth. To this union, two children were born: son, Ronald Scott, and daughter, Lorraine Alice. May 18 of this year would have marked Punk and Enid’s 71st wedding anniversary.

Merle Wayne Weihe, 64, of Gordon, passed away peacefully at his home on November 28, 2022. Merle was born November 23, 1958, in Valentine, to Rudolph and Alice (Hoffman) Weihe.

James Edwin Wilson, 75, passed away on December 12, 2022, at Oak Hill Hospital, in Brooksville, FL after a brief unexpected illness. Jim, beloved husband, father, grandfather, greatgrandfather is well known for his love of family, outdoors and helping others. Jim and his wife, Eileen, were married and retired to Springhill, FL in 2009. There in Florida, they made a beautiful home to spend time with family, fishing, helping friends and neighbors and just enjoying retirement. He has left behind family and friends that will forever love and miss him.

Danny Duane Daniels was born on July 24, 1958, to Duane Dale Dan iels and Mary Elizabeth (Harris) Daniels in Ainsworth. He passed away suddenly on April 21, 2023, at the CHI Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, with Teri by his side, at the age of 64. Dan lived his entire life in Ainsworth. Dan attended Lila McAndrew Grade School and Ainsworth High School, graduating in 1977.

Melba Evelyn Bejot was born August 30, 1934 to Rudolph M. and Nellie E. (Kackmeister) Waits. She passed away, Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Sandhills Care Center in Ainsworth at the age of 88. Melba lived her entire life in Ainsworth.

Kay Connery, 73, of North Platte passed away on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at her home surrounded by her loving family following an extended illness. Kay was born on August 17, 1949 in Valentine, the daughter of Howard and Catherine (Doty) Hinton. Kay attended grades K-5 at District 46, and graduated from Cody-Kilgore High School in 1967. She attended Parks Business College in Denver, CO. She was a firm believer in higher education and attended classes and graduated from Mid Plains Community College in North Platte. She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cody.

Joseph L. Hanson (84) of Valentine passed away April 22, 2023 at Cherry County Hospital. Joe was born December 25, 1938 to Clarence and Leona (Koenig) Hanson in Lynch. In the late 40’s, the family moved to Valentine. Joe graduated from Valentine High School in 1957. Upon graduation, Joe married E. (Mae) Keller in 1959. Joe entered the U.S. Navy and both him and Mae traveled to California where he was stationed. Joe served with high school classmate Neil Stoecker and many others that would remain lifelong friends. After four years, Joe and Mae returned to Valentine where they made their home and raised their four sons. Joe worked a variety of jobs initially, serving as a ranch hand, working on golf courses, and managing the vets club until he started his permanent career with UPS. Joe drove for UPS for over 30 years. Through this time he met many of the area ranchers and knew all of the short-cuts across trail roads in Cherry County. You might catch a glimpse of the brown truck cruising across a sandhill enroute to ensure an on-time delivery. The kids and grandkids would wait patiently on Christmas for the last package to be delivered so the family could enjoy their Christmas tradition of chili and oyster stew and opening gifts.

Donald Ray Fernau, age 93, of Ainsworth, passed away on January 23, 2023 at the Sandhills Care Center in Ainsworth. He was born April 3, 1929 in Ainsworth to Arthur “Butch” and Bernice (Henning) Fernau. Don attended school in Ainsworth and graduated from Ainsworth High School in 1946. He grew up on the family farm north of Ainsworth where he developed a strong work ethic that he carried with him in life. In September of 1950, Don joined the United States Army where he served his country honorably overseas until May of 1953. On June 5, 1951, Don married the love of his life Betty J. Greenough. To this union, a son, Ronald Ray was born on February 8, 1955.

Charles (Charlie) Lee Messenger, ( husband of Karen Kreycik), age 90, passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 after a short illness. He was born on July 3, 1932 to the late Leon R. Messenger and Clare C. (Bayerlein) Messenger in Lincoln. He attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and obtained several different degrees in the science and agriculture fields. He did have a goal of getting his Master’s Degree as well. Charlie was a proud Marine and worked on engine repair of planes in Cherry Point, NC at the end of the Korea War. He wanted to learn to fly planes for fun. He and wife Alice (Wagner) Messenger had six children, daughters, Judy L. Wilson, Catherine A. Newsham (Thomas B. Martinez) and sons, Mark A. Messenger, Bruce Messenger (Jodie Naderhoff), and twins Leon R and Louis R. Messenger. Charlie enjoyed working in the science fields and was very adventurous in everything he did. He worked at Duffield’s doing radio and TV repair, the Department of Roads as a Chemist, the University of Nebraska in Paleontology, Geology, Entomology, and collecting specimens in Egypt for preservation in the University of Nebraska collections. He dug up dinosaur bones, turtles and all kinds of petrified sea life in Nebraska. He married his soulmate Karen Kreycik on April 1, 1972. Frequent camping trips with his family in very remote areas in order to get the best rocks occurred all the time! He also loved to meet up with family in Yellowstone from the Pacific Northwest. Charlie collected old cars and restored them. He had an extensive Massey Ferguson tractor collection which he threatened to paint one John Deere Green much to the anger of his daughter Cathi and take it to the local Fourth of

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ (Jones) Kalblinger was born in her grandparents’ home in Rosebud, SD on September 1, 1931 to Lawrence Edison and Florence (Knittel) Jones and she was baptized October 4, 1931. She attended Zion Lutheran grade school and was confirmed March 18, 1945.