Kittie I. Stricklett, 87

Kittie I. Stricklett age 87 of Blair died July 3, 2015, at Crowell Home in Blair, after a brief illness. Funeral services will be held at 11:00AM Thursday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Blair with burial following services in the Blair Cemetery. Visitation will be held Wednesday beginning at 4:00PM with a PEO memorial service at 6:00PM and visitation continuing until 7:00PM at Campbell-Aman Funeral Home.

Kittie I. Stricklett was born on the family farm in Stella, Nebraska, on May 7, 1928, the daughter of Cleo W. and Veda A. (Rhodus) McNeely. She attended Stella School where she rode to school every day with her 2 brothers on a pony named Patsy. At the age of 13 she moved to Wahoo with her family where she attended and graduated from Wahoo High School. After high school graduation she attended Luther College in Wahoo and then Immanuel Nursing College in Omaha and graduated with the class of 1946. Kittie worked as a Registered Nurse from 1949 to 1994. She started her career at Immanuel Hospital in Omaha and then in 1951 began working at Memorial Community Hospital in Blair. She was the head nurse of the special care unit in Blair from 1966 until her retirement in 1994.

On April 1, 1951 she was united in marriage to Dale Stricklett at the Immanuel Chapel in Omaha, Nebraska. The couple celebrated 50 years of marriage on April 1, 2001.

Kittie was very active at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Blair. She was involved in pastoral care, organized funeral luncheons, and could always be found in the salad room for the Annual St. Mary’s Turkey Dinner. She also volunteered with the Red Cross Blood Mobile for over 40 years and was a member of the Hospital Auxiliary and helped organize the annual rummage sale. She was a charter member of the Washington County Nursing Association, a member of PEO, and was a charter member of the extension club The Bakers Dozen from 1953.

She is survived by her children: Mark (Sharon) Stricklett of Danielsville, GA, Brian (Karen) Stricklett of St. Charles, MO, Laurel (John) Derry of Blair, Pat (Gary) Gaver of Moores Haven, FL, and Donna (Larry) Tietz of Omaha; grandchildren: Tandi Dinkle, Ian, Kellen and Cameron Derry, Tammy and Todd Gaver, Becky Young, Suzanne Carr, and Brad Tietz; sister Shirley Miller of Wahoo, brother Harold McNeely of Phoenix, AZ, brother-in-law Keith Hartford of Cedar Bluffs and sister-in-law Elva Jean McNeely of Enid, OK.

She was preceded in death by her husband Dale Stricklett, sister Julie Hartford, brothers Wayne and Don McNeely, and brother-in-law Phil Miller.

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