On Friday, October 18, 2019, Mabel Irene Huffman Rodocker passed away at the age of 92 at the Jennie Melham Medical Center in Broken Bow.
Funeral services will be held on Friday October 25, 2019 at 10:30 AM at the Purdum United Church of Christ with Pastor Les Parmenter officiating. Burial will be in the Purdum Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Thursday evening 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Govier Brothers Mortuary in Broken Bow. Online condolences may be left at www.govierbrothers.com .
Appropriately, the sweetheart of a mother was born on Valentine’s Day 1927 in
Sutherland, Nebraska to parents Marion and Maude Huffman. Her family lived in Swan Lake and Hyannis before moving to Koshapah, Nebraska before her high school years. She attended the Nebraska School of Agriculture in Curtis her freshman and sophomore years, Dunning as a junior and graduated from Grand Island Senior High at the age of 16.
During World War II, Mabel started her nurse training and joined the U.S. Nurse Corps as a Cadet. January, 1947 at the age of nineteen, she graduated as a Registered Nurse and served six months at a VA Hospital in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. She then moved to Chicago to take graduate nursing courses, and at age twenty-one returned to Grand Island to become head nurse in obstetrics at St. Francis Hospital.
On October 23, 1948, she married Keith Rodocker and one year later they moved to the Rodocker Ranch, north of Halsey, where she lived for 43 years. They worked hard maintaining their family ranch, but took time for fun when the opportunity arose (both were great dancers). After her husband passed, she began nursing at Heritage Hall in Jennie Melham Medical Center, where she worked for eighteen years until she retired. In 1992, Mabel moved to Halsey and lived happily near family and the ranch for twenty-five years. In 2017, at ninety years of age, she moved to Off Broadway in Broken Bow.
Mabel was blessed with a purposeful life, where she impacted many people. She lived life on her terms, as a hard worker, with compassion and a family-first outlook on life. She believed in service to others and was highly involved with her local community. She enjoyed being a nurse and was often called on for nursing care as needed, even well after retirement. She loved spending time at casinos, including frequent trips with friends from the Halsey area. Her friendly and competitive edge came out while playing bridge with friends–she belonged to clubs in Thedford, Halsey, and Dunning. She spread her love of cards to her family, as there is always some form of card games being played during reunions.
Mabel was preceded in death by her husband Keith, her parents, Marion and Maude, her father-in-law Gerald, mother-in-law Margaret, son Gerry and grandson Alek. She is survived by son Wayne Rodocker (Sheri) of Halsey, Nebraska, daughter Debra Watson (Dick) of Grand Island, Nebraska, son Perry Rodocker (Becky) of Sherrard, Illinois, son Gary Rodocker of Moreno Valley, California, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
