Memorial Services will be held for Pat Hunsche, 87, on Friday, Oct. 8, at 11 a.m., at First Lutheran Church, in Blair. Visitation will be held one hour prior. Burial will be at the Blair Cemetery after the service with Military Honors. Lunch will be served at the church following the burial. In lieu of flowers, Memorials are requested for the Blair Public Library and the Veteran’s Plaza Wall. Pruss-Nabity Funeral Home of Wahoo is in charge of arrangements.
Patricia Ruth Lippincott Hunsche was born July 16, 1934, on the family farm 5 miles north of Blair to E. Clark and Ethel (Anderson) Lippincott. She attended Pleasant View Country School and graduated from Blair High School with the class of 1951. Pat was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church. She attended Dana college for one year. After working in Omaha for a year she enlisted on Feb. 23, 1953, in the U.S. Navy Waves. She took basic training in Bainbridge, Md. and then was quartered in Arlington, Virginia. Pat’s most memorable military experience was working at the Pentagon. After 3 years she was transferred to the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. She was discharged from the Navy in 1957. She then worked for General Dynamics/Astronautics in San Diego and Nebraska. Upon returning to Blair, she was employed at the Washington County Bank where she worked as a Bank Teller for 33 years. Pat married Warren (Bud) Hunsche at First Lutheran Church on Dec. 30, 1964. To this union daughter Terri was born.
Pat had a severe heart attack on Sept. 21st and was life flighted to Omaha. She was recovering and planning to return to Good Shepherd for Rehabilitation but died suddenly on Sunday, Sept. 26th.
Pat was heavily involved in genealogy as evidenced by the many scrapbooks she created for various parts of the family tree. She and Bud were known to visit many cemeteries in Nebraska looking for dates on tombstones. She read the newspapers with “scissors in hand” as she clipped obituaries and wedding and anniversary articles. Those were saved in the appropriate scrapbook. Pat was instrumental in the Washington County Genealogy Society and was thrilled with the room provided in the new Blair Library. She helped many community members search for their genealogy records.
Pat was a proud Veteran and was largely responsible for gathering the names of 7,000 plus Washington County Veterans which were placed on the Veteran’s Plaza Wall dedicated in November of 2008. Lots of hours were spent combing through old newspapers to find needed information and she continued to add names each year. Pat was an organizer of the Flatwater Waves Group of Nebraska and planned their meetings which became more difficult as the group was aging and many could no longer travel the distances to get together. She was a member of the American Legion both in Blair and in Herman.
Pat was proud to continue the “Bench Club” which was organized by her mother Ethel Lippincott in 1921. This brought neighborhood ladies together for a social afternoon and children came along to play with one another. The numbers have dwindled and no longer small children, but time for reminiscing is still enjoyed. After retirement, Pat enjoyed helping with Love Days at First Lutheran.
The Blair High School Class of 1951 held frequent reunions thanks to the effort of Pat to plan an event for “catching up” with one another and recalling their high school days.
Survivors are her husband, Warren (Bud) Hunsche; her daughter, Terri Hunsche of LaVista; stepson Robert P. Hunsche of Kansas City, Miss.; 6 step-grandchildren; several step great-grandchildren; two brothers, Tom (Janice) Lippincott and Bill (Elna) Lippincott; brother-in-law, Bob Christensen; many nieces, nephews, cousins and innumerable friends. Preceding her in death were her parents; sister, Ginny Beck; parents-in-law, Irene and Henry Hunsche; brothers-in-law, John Beck and Earl Pace; sisters-in-law, Charlotte Pace and Marian Christensen; and step-daughter, Barbara Hunsche Kling.
