Helen A. Olberding

Helen A. Olberding, 97, of Seneca, KS, died Monday morning, October 20, 2008, at Monarch End of Life Hospice Center in Lincoln, NE.
     She was born April 30, 1911, on a farm south of Seneca, the daughter of Hubert and Clara Lorson Roeder. In 1921 the family moved to a farm west of Frankfort. She graduated from Frankfort High School in 1931, and attended college at Manhattan earning a teachers certificate. She taught 2 years at a country school near Vermillion, then for 3 years at Rock School north of Seneca.
     She was married to Raymond J. Olberding on December 29, 1936, at Annunciation Church at Frankfort. They lived in Seneca before moving in 1947 to Steinauer, NE, where they operated Ray's Market and later added a locker plant. They sold the plant and bought a farm near Burchard, NE in 1960. She was a cook and manager of the school lunch program in Burchard from 1962 to 1972. After retirement, she and Ray spent winters in Arizona for 10 years and in Texas for 5 years. They celebrated 58 years of marriage before Ray’s death on May 11, 1995.
      She was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church and the Altar Society in Seneca, and a former member of St. Anthony's Church at Steinauer and Sacred Heart Church at Burchard. She enjoyed cooking, baking bread, crocheting, and raising her family.
      She is survived by two sons, Eugene of Punta Gorda, FL, and Donald of Beatrice, NE;  two daughters, Marilyn Wenzl of Elk Creek and Janice Thomas of Lincoln; a brother, Hubert Roeder of Frankfort; a sister, Rachel Seematter of Frankfort; 27 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.
       Besides her husband Ray, she was preceded in death by two sons Raymond Olberding Jr and Gerald Olberding; two brothers, Clarence and Joe Roeder;  grandson Zackery Frase; and two grandsons-in-law, Bill Shea and Clark Ackerman.
      Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 AM Thursday, October 23, at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. Burial will in the church cemetery. Rosaries will be prayed at 2 & 7 PM Wednesday at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.
      Memorials may be given for Monarch End of Life Hospice Center in Lincoln or Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca, and sent in care of the family.