Mary Jo Breece

A funeral service for Mary Jo (Meyer) Breece will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Nebraska, with Pastor Jan Gluth King officiating.

The funeral will be livestreamed via the Bethel Lutheran Church Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Bethel.Holdrege

A graveside service will be held at 1:30 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Cemetery in rural Smithfield, Nebraska. Following the interment, there will be light refreshments and a time of fellowship at Hope Lutheran Church.

Mary Jo (Meyer) Breece, 66 years of age, of Holdrege, died unexpectedly on Saturday, January 4, 2025, at the Phelps Memorial Health Center in Holdrege.  Mary Jo was born on August 3, 1958, in Lexington, Nebraska, one of five children born to Darrel and Carol (Werner) Meyer.  She was raised on the family farm northeast of Smithfield and received her primary education from Bertrand.  She was baptized and confirmed at Hope Lutheran Church.  She was very proud of her German heritage, and knew many words and phrases.

Mary Jo attended and graduated from Bertrand High School with the class of 1976.  She pursued higher education from Kearney State College and attained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education.  While in college, she was a member of the Wagoneers Dance Team.  Mary Jo then began teaching at Medicine Valley Public Schools in Curtis, Nebraska. While she was there she met her future husband, Kevin.

Mary Jo was united in marriage to Kevin Breece on June 14, 1986, at Hope Lutheran Church.  In 1986, Mary Jo moved to Holdrege for a position teaching at Loomis Public Schools.  In 1998, the couple began managing the Colby Gun and Coin Show for 20 years.  While in Holdrege the couple was blessed with one son, Nolan.

In 1998, the family moved to Grand Island, Nebraska.  Mary Jo absolutely loved the house and neighborhood they lived in.  She was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Grand Island and a member of the low German club the Platt-Duetsche.  Mary Jo worked as a substitute teacher at all the elementary schools in the Grand Island Public School system.

In 2006, the family returned to Holdrege and Mary Jo substitute taught at Holdrege Public Schools, the surrounding area schools, and at the ESU#11. She found great joy in teaching students for over 44 years.

Mary Jo was an active and faithful member of the Bethel Lutheran Church, where she played the Clavinova every second and fourth Sunday for many years.  She gladly helped with vacation bible school, played with the bell choir, sang in the church choir, and was active with the quilting guild.

Mary Jo enjoyed sewing, quilting, going to thrift stores and garage sales, recycling, collecting Christmas tree pins, dark chocolate and M&Ms, and staying home with her dog, Oliver. She was an avid Nebraska Volleyball fan and rarely missed a game. She always enjoyed the company of the Hancock Street neighborhood on her front porch.

She will be remembered for her generous, loving heart; her contagious smile and laugh; her blue eyes; and her love for Jesus. Above all, Mary Jo has left a tremendous legacy of love to her family, friends, and neighbors.

Mary Jo was preceded in death by her parents: mother, Carol in 1980; father, Darrel in 2014; infant son, Peyton Jack Breece; father-in-law and mother-in-law: Jim and Jeannette Breece; three siblings in infancy: Jill, Susan, and Dean; sister-in-law, Becky Vrooman; aunts and uncles: Mary Lou (George) Nelson; Charlene (Bob) Kelly; Stuart Bachmann; Ronald Werner; and Audrey Meyer as a young girl; and a cousin, Darci Lovitt.

Mary Jo is survived by her husband, Kevin Breece of Holdrege; son, Nolan Breece of Holdrege; her sister, Kathan Meyer and her husband, Chris Alger of Westminster, Colorado; step-mother, Betty Meyer of Wilbraham, Massachusetts; step-siblings: Arva Carlson and her husband, David of Wilbraham; and Gary Griffith and his wife, Helen Montoya Griffith of Lincoln, Nebraska; brother-in-law, David Breece and his wife, Judee of South Fork, Colorado; and Willard Vrooman of Winnetoon, Nebraska; aunt, Janice Bachmann of Gothenburg, Nebraska; uncle, William Werner of Florida; along with many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Visitation will be held on Friday, January 10, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege, with the family greeting friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Memorials in Mary Jo's honor can be directed to: Bethel Lutheran Church; or to the Holdrege Public Schools Foundation for local education purposes.

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 the arrangements.