Mary Esther Arehart

Celebration of Life Services for Mary E. Arehart will be conducted at the Community Church in Wilcox, Nebraska, on Monday, September 8, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. with Pastors Bud Gillett and Craig Cedar officiating. Private family interment will be held in the Prairie Home Cemetery at Holdrege, Nebraska, prior to the services with Pastor Darren Stroh officiating.

Mary Esther (Kitt) Arehart, 90 years of age, of Holdrege, (formerly of Wilcox) passed away on Thursday, September 4, 2014, at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney, Nebraska. Mary was born on April 19, 1924, southwest of Ragan, in Harlan County, Nebraska to Clarence and Edith Lynn (Ferdinand) Kitt. In 1932, Mary gave her life to Jesus Christ and accepted him as her Lord and Savior. She attended Ragan Consolidated School through the 4th grade and then moved to Kearney, where she attended A.O. Thomas Elementary on the Nebraska State Teachers College Campus at Kearney. After her father passed away in 1933, her mother married Ernest Frisell and the family made their home in Omaha, Nebraska. She then attended Dundee Elementary and Omaha Central High School, graduating with the class of 1942. Mary pursued her teaching credentials at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas. From 1944 to 1945, she taught kindergarten in Clarks, Nebraska.

On September 8, 1945, she was united in marriage to Marvin David Arehart at the First Baptist Church in Omaha, and to this union, four children were born: Susan, David, Nina, and Brock. The family made their home in the Wilcox area. Mary and Marvin helped start the first school for developmental disabled children in Nebraska. Mary was a member and spokesperson for the Association for Retarded Citizens (now known as ARC) and the Epilepsy Association on both State and National levels. She worked as an aide at the Ragan School and at the Opportunity Center in Holdrege, and also was a substitute teacher for special needs students for many years in the Wilcox area. She also volunteered as a storyteller in local schools, libraries and senior centers. Private tutoring was also a big part of her life. Mary was also an accomplished author and documented the challenges she and Marvin faced raising their son, David, who was developmentally disabled following a life threatening illness at the age of two, in her book God's Yard Light.

Following her marriage to Marvin, Mary attended and was confirmed at the Fridhem Lutheran Church at Funk, Nebraska. The family later attended Pleasant View Christian Church, where Mary was a Sunday school teacher. Mary and Marvin were very active in the Gideon's International Ministry where she served as a Gideon's Auxiliary President. She was also a member of the Hubbub Club. Mary enjoyed meeting people and making new friends, but most importantly, she loved spending time with her family.

Mary was preceded in death by her father, Clarence Kitt; mother, Edith (Kitt) Frisell; stepfather, Ernest Frisell; three sisters: Wanda Kitt, Lucille Kitt and Una (Kitt) Nelson, and brothers-in-law: Roland Arehart and his wife, Jacque, and Levi Arehart.

She leaves to mourn her passing; her husband of 69 years, Marvin Arehart of Holdrege; her four children: Susan Falk and her husband, Melvin of Wilcox, David Arehart of Holdrege, Nina Putnam and her husband, Ed of Holdrege, and Brock Arehart and his special friend, Andrew Brackett of Kearney; five grandchildren: Lynn Lebsack and her husband, Grant of Kearney, Karla Steele and her husband, Trent of Papillion, Nebraska, Mark Putnam and his wife, Kelly of York, Nebraska, Ryan Putnam and his wife, Jessica of Shelley, Idaho and Amy Jessop and her husband, Nick of Grand Island, Nebraska; eight great-grandchildren: Elliott and Beatrice Lebsack, Bennett and Kitt Steele, Anna and Dante Jessop, and Julian Hyde and Domonick Putnam; one sister-in-law, Phyllis Arehart of Wichita, Kansas; along with a host of nieces, nephews, other dear relatives and friends.

Visitation with family greeting friends will be held Sunday, September 7, 2014, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege. Honoring Mary's wish, the casket will be closed.

A memorial has been established in Mary's honor and kindly suggested to the Gideon's International.

Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com.

The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege is in charge of arrangements.