Mary Louise Lilyhorn

Funeral service for Mary Louise Lilyhorn will be held on Friday, September 5, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege, Nebraska, with Reverend Sylvia High Karlsson officiating. Burial will be held at the Highland Cemetery near Bertrand, Nebraska, alongside her husband, Harlan, and daughter, Joyce.

Visitation will be held one hour before the service from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. with family greeting friends at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home.

For the past five years, Mary Louise resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her daughter Joanne until her death; formerly of Bertrand, Nebraska, and the Memorial Home in Holdrege, Nebraska.  During her time in Minneapolis, she traveled with her daughter to visit family in Florida, New Orleans, Missouri, Kansas, Bertrand, and up North in Minnesota, along the way seeing many sites.

Mary Louise was born September 15, 1926, in Phelps County, the middle daughter of Gustav "Albert" and Maggie Ethel (Black) Turner.  She started school at Moses Hill Rural Country School, then went into Holdrege public school for her seventh and eighth grade, followed by ninth through twelfth grade at Bertrand Public School until graduating in 1943.  After graduation, she attended Kearney State College for Summer School, followed by teaching in several rural country schools around Bertrand for four years.

Mary Louise and her husband, Harlan, were high school sweethearts. Upon his return from the service during WWII, they were married on April 3, 1947, at Westmark Church, Loomis, Nebraska. To this union, five children were born: Rogene, Dale, Joanne, Wendell, and Joyce.

Living on the farm a short distance North of Bertrand, Mary Louise was a jack of all trades, being a farmer's wife, but above all, she was an accomplished seamstress, having sewn clothing for her children, wedding dresses, men's and women's suits, band and majorette uniforms, and any other garments. She loved oil painting with her sister Norma and did a lot of quilting after she retired.

Besides her deceased parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter Joyce in 1998; her husband Harlan in 2011; and son-in-law Bill Daharsh in 2014. Mary Louise was also preceded in death by two sisters (brothers-in-law): Norma Hock (Robert) and Verna Swanson (Don); and brothers-in-law/sisters-in-law Jack Lilyhorn (Hazel), Jay Lilyhorn (Joy), and Douglas Lilyhorn (Joan).

Mary Louise leaves to celebrate her life: Rogene Daharsh of Merritt Island, FL; Dale and his wife Jan of Lee's Summit, MO; Joanne Marsh of Minneapolis, MN; Wendell and his wife Barb of Hutchinson, KS; along with many grandchildren, several great grandchildren, and a few great great grandchildren.

A memorial has been established in Mary Louise's memory and will be designated at a later date.

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.