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Marie B. DeRoe of Syracuse passed away at the age of 101 on March 14, 2023 at the Syracuse Hospital. Marie was born at home on December 7, 1921 to Louis & Mathilda (Gottwald) Ullsperger on their farm northwest of Cook. She attended Fariview school district 77 north of Sterling to the 8th grade, and then completed two years of high school in Douglas. She married Herman DeRoe on May 15, 1941. They met at a dance in Sterling. She was not sure if Herman ever proposed but when asked she said “it seemed like we just knew we would always be together”. They were blessed with two children, Kenneth and Cheryl. Marie spent her days working side by side with Herman on the farm where she raised chickens, tended to cattle, and helped with their crops. There was always a beautiful garden that she would hoe by hand and the entire family would help put up sweet corn. She was an active member of St. Martins Catholic Church in Douglas serving on altar society. In 1995 they moved to Syracuse and became a member of St. Paulinus Catholic Church. When asked to write a short story of her life, Marie wrote the following. “From age 4 I lived on the farm north of Sterling. At age 19 Herman and I wanted to get married. Dad said no, so we got married in Rockport, Missouri. Two weeks later we took off for Bremerton, Washington where Herman was a welder. We lived there for a while and then went to Renton, Washington where Herman worked in the Seattle shipyard. On my birthday, Pearl Harbor was bombed. Herman was up for the draft in 1943 so we came back to Nebraska so I wouldn’t be alone if he had to go to war. We rented 80 acres of land and borrowed machinery. We had one cow and a sow with pigs. The next year we moved to a farm near Douglas, added to our livestock and machinery. We added Ken and Cheryl to our family. All we ever did was work. No vacations. Not a very exciting life, but we loved our family getting together. My life was my family.” Marie truly lived the words Faith, Family

Glenis Maria (Holtgrewe) Hopp, age 94 of Talmage died March 7, 2023 at The Ambassador in Nebraska City. Glenis was born March 16, 1928 on the family fann near Lorton, the daughter of Hennan John and Hedwig (Hattie) Augusta Fischer Holtgrewe. She was baptized on April 6, 1928, in the home of her parents by Rev. H.

Harry Leon Chaffin, 81, of Palmyra passed away March 11, 2023. Born December 7, 1941, in Alva, OK to Ernest and Anna (Bergner) Chaffin. Harry attended grade school in Dacoma, OK and graduated high school at Hulbert, OK.

Norman Louis Royal, 81, of Syracuse, passed away Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at his home in Syracuse. He was bom March 17, 1941, to William and Millicent (Poggemeyer) Royal in Syracuse. After high school, Nonn entered the Anny Reserve and served his country from 1964 1970. Upon completion of his service, he attended business college, eventually owning and operating two small businesses, Norm’s Variety & Crafts and a bowling alley, Royal Lanes. In addition to his business endeavors, Nonn kept busy as a member of the Syracuse Fire Department and as a member of the Knights of Columbus. Throughout the years he would also work as a cashier, for both Casey’s and the Nutcracker gas stations.

A journalist, newspaper publisher, college instructor and administrator, author, avid reader and book reviewer, Francis Dean Moul was born on April 11, 1940 to Willis Francis (Snook) and Dorothy Dean Moul at York, NE. He died March 4, 2023 at the age of 82 at Lincoln, Ne. He graduated from Vermillion, SD High School in 1958, and received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in political science from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion in 1964 and 1966. He received his doctorate in environmental history from the University of Nebraska in 1998. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to India at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, in 1966. His journalism endeavors included the Sioux City Journal, Boone News Republican and editorial writer at the Des Moines Register and Tribune. He was an instructor in political science at Wayne State College and then was a founder, CEO and Publisher of the Syracuse, NE Journal-Democrat and Maverick Media, Inc. a printing and publishing firm in Syracuse, NE. He also was a proprietor of an antiquarian bookstore and art gallery in Lincoln and development officer for the Nebraska Community Foundation. He was vice president for Institutional Relations at Chadron State College and Executive Director of the Chadron State Foundation, retiring in 2001. His book on the National Grasslands was published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2006. He wrote numerous articles for Nebraska publications, primarily on environmental issues, and wrote hundreds of book reviews for the Lincoln Journal Star, Des Moines Register and Omaha World-Herald and other newspapers and magazines. He received numerous newspaper writing and publishing awards, won the James C. Sellers Award for best article in Nebraska History magazine and the 2007 Nebraska Center for the Book award for best nonfiction book, for the National Grasslands. He was a charter founder, director, president and volunteer executive director for the Nebraska Wildlife

Orlin Neels, beloved husband of Marilyn Neels, passed away one week after Marilyn, on February 23, 2023 at the age of 93. Orlin Victor Neels was born October 30, 1929 in rural Talmage, NE; the son of Hans G.