Lucille Barnhart passed away July 8, 2018, at Broken Bow Care and Rehab in Broken Bow, Nebraska, at the age of 91.
Funeral Services will be held Thursday, July 12th at 10 a.m. at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Sargent, NE. with Father Jim Hunt officiating. A Wake service will be held Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. also at the Church in Sargent, with visitation from 5 p.m. till the end of the wake. Burial will be in the Somerford Cemetery near Sargent, NE. Memorials will be selected by the family at a later date. Govier Brothers Mortuary are in charge of arrangements. Online condolences can be left at www.govierbrothers.com
She will be laid to rest in the Somerford Cemetery with other family members. Lucille, one of five children, was born in Sargent, Nebraska, January 17, 1927, to Czechoslovakian homesteaders, James and Mary Horky, and lived on the family farm until she graduated from Sargent High School in 1943. She studied at the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and later went to teachers’ college in Lincoln. Lucille began her teaching career at Dry Valley country school. She was a life-long learner and loved knowing things and learning everything she could as well as teaching her students. She had a better-than-average memory, was progressive, and was especially interested in health, nutrition, and geography.
Lucille and Ben Barnhart were united in marriage October 18, 1947, when he returned from his stint in the US Navy. They farmed on his family’s farm with his father, A. B. Barnhart. Lucille was a homemaker of the best kind. She was interested in nutrition and healthy eating and was an accomplished cook and baker. There were always good things to eat, including specialty Bohemian dishes, in her home. She and Ben grew and preserved most of their food until they moved from the farm. She was an excellent seamstress and made much of their clothing including the square dance outfits and shirts for the square dance club that they belonged to for years. She sewed the suits she wore to church and created hats to match them. She made her own wedding dress complete with train and veil. Lucille also crocheted and beaded jewelry and was good at everything she did. She belonged to a Somerford homemakers’ club along with her mother-in-law Neva Barnhart and other neighbors. She and Ben danced regularly with the square and round dancing group Prairie Promenaders.
Lucille and Ben adopted two infants, Nancy in 1959, and James Alva in 1962. Lucille was a loving mother to her children and put her heart into their care, happiness, and wellbeing. When their children were in school, 4-H activities were a large part of their family life. Not only was she a wonderful mother, but also, she and Ben often entertained nieces and nephews at their home during summers. She taught them many of her skills and was much loved by them. In later years Lucille and Ben frequently cared for and were devoted to their grandsons, Phillip and Merlyn, who were confined to wheelchairs, and all four loved watching sports, often on television. They were faithful Big Red fans. She and Ben also cared for his mother Neva, who lived in her home on the farm until she died in 1986. After Lucille’s father died, her mother lived with them until her death. Lucille and Ben spent 71 years together, most on their Somerford farm, and then moved to Off-Broadway in Broken Bow in 2015, and later to Custer Care, and Broken Bow Care and Rehab.
Lucille was a lifelong member of Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sargent and was actively involved in Grand Island diocesan church affairs. Her Catholic faith was an important part of her life.
Her parents, brother Melvin, and sisters Arlene, Edna, and Irene; her parents-in-law Neva and Alva Barnhart; and her grandsons, Phillip and Merlyn Seidel, preceded Lucille in death.
She is survived by her husband Ben; her son James (Tammy), Broken Bow; her daughter Nancy Horky (John), Sargent; and several nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews on both the Horky side and the Barnhart side, all of whom loved her and consider her a special part of their lives.
