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Edward L. Moser, 80

Edward L. Moser, 80, of Fremont, died Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, at Bryan LGH East Hospital in Lincoln.

A funeral Mass took place at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fremont. Military graveside services were conducted at Calvary Cemetery in Fremont by the Fremont Honor Guard of VFW Post No. 854 and American Legion Post No. 20.

A rosary, led by the Knights of Columbus, was said at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at Moser Funeral Home in Fremont. Visitation was from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday with the family receiving friends from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitation was also held at the church on Monday, one hour prior to services.

Edward L. Moser was born Sept. 20, 1927, at North Bend to Edward A. and Hilda (Studt) Moser.

He grew up at Dodge and moved to North Bend in 1942. He was a graduate of North Bend High School and attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, and graduated from the Kansas City College of Mortuary Science in Kansas City, Kan., in 1950.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II from Jan. 13, 1946, to Aug. 8, 1947, and then served during the Korean War from Oct. 25, 1950, to Aug. 7, 1951, and held the rank of sergeant first class.

On Feb. 18, 1950, he married Doris E. Wotipka at Wahoo.

He moved to Cedar Bluffs and in 1953 and opened the Moser Funeral Home, while also helping his father operate the Moser Funeral Home at North Bend. He moved to Fremont in 1966 and established the Moser Memorial Chapel.

In 1983, he purchased the Reckmeyer Funeral Home at Arlington and it became Reckmeyer-Moser Funeral Home. Until his recent hospitalization, he was active in the operation of all four funeral homes, along with his brother, Jim.

He was a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fremont; Knights of Columbus Council No. 1497 and served on the Calvary Cemetery Board; life member and past commander in 2003 of American Legion Post No. 20 of Fremont; 41-year member of 40 & 8, Voiture 1018 of Fremont; member of AmVets Post No. 20 of North Bend; member and past commander of American Legion Post No. 158 of Cedar Bluffs; longtime member of Fremont Rotary Club; member of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce; member of the National Funeral Directors Association.

Mr. Moser was honored at a ceremony at the Nebraska Funeral Directors Association in Lincoln in 2002 for being a licensed funeral director for 50 years. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 200 of Fremont and the Fremont Golf Club. He previously served as campaign director for the March of Dimes in 1975 and was presented an award for distinguished leadership in the fight against birth defects in 1976.

He is survived by his wife, Doris; daughters and sons-in-law, Mary and Robert Bodell and Monica and Mark Coulter; son and daughter-i-law, John and Julie Moser, all of Fremont; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters-in-law, Robert and Caryn Moser of North Bend, James and Lynda Moser of Fremont, Richard and Donna Moser of Sacramento, Calif., and Eldon and Cheryl Moser of Yutan; sisters and brothers-in-law, Ardith and Dick Cantral of North Platte, Marjorie and John Reynolds of North Bend, Mercedes and Melvin Roth of Fremont and Kathleen Powers of Lincoln, Calif.

He was preceded in death by a grandson; two sisters, Mae Rita Jirkovsky and Elizabeth Moser; and two brothers-in-law, Charles Jirkovsky and Richard Hartman.

Memorials are suggested to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and to the Fremont Veterans Club.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~