Shirley M. Hargis

Funeral Services for Shirley M. Hargis will be held on Friday, April 8, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at the Fridhem Lutheran Church in Funk, Nebraska with Pastor Daren Popple officiating. Following the traditional funeral, cremation will take place and a private family inurnment will be held at the Fridhem Cemetery at Funk.

Shirley Marie (Bergstrom) Hargis, 82 years of age, of Holdrege, Nebraska, passed away on Monday, April 4, 2016 at her home in Holdrege. She was born July 24, 1933, at her grandparent's (Fred and Emma Grote) home in Wilcox. Grandma Emma delivered her. She was the 2nd of 4 children born to Clemens and Lenora (Grote) Bergstrom of rural Wilcox.

Shirley loved growing up on the family farm, west of Wilcox, something that stayed in her blood the rest of her life. She grew to love animals at an early age, taking care of the family cattle, pigs, chickens and horses. Her mother would often become "provoked" at Shirley dawdling during chores, because she was playing with a kitten or petting a horse. Horses, especially were Shirley's favorites and she had many throughout her life. One of her favorite pastimes was to just go for a ride on a sunny day, no saddle needed. Just a horse and a beautiful day.

Shirley attended school at Wilcox Public School and early in high school began singing and taking voice lessons. She graduated from Wilcox in 1950 and went on to further her education at Luther College in Wahoo, Nebraska. During her years at Luther, she really developed her voice with lessons and singing in the college choir. During summer breaks at Luther, Shirley and her best friend, Jo (Gustafson) Whitney worked at Camp Cedars outside of Fremont under the guidance of their boss and second Dad, A.J. Vance. She and Jo took part in many shenanigans, such as raiding cabins and running people's underwear up the flagpole, leading A.J. to say, "You girls……" all too often. Jo Whitney said Shirley was the absolute best friend she ever had, and their years at Luther were some of her most precious.

After her graduation in 1952, Shirley moved to Lincoln and began working at Walt's Music Store in downtown Lincoln. She rented a room from a Mrs. Yost whose home was on South 14th Street, in a house now occupied by the Nebraska Nurses Association. Shirley also continued to take voice lessons, and her instructor told her on more than one occasion that she had the God-given talent to become a professional opera singer, but it would take enormous amounts of time, dedication and money that she just didn't have. She did share her gift many, many times, whenever asked, singing for weddings, funerals and solos in churches.

During this time in Lincoln she recorded albums for her parents, including the songs "The Lord's Prayer," and "Children of the Heavenly Father," as a Christmas present that her parents always cherished.

A few years later, Shirley and friends from Lincoln moved to Denver, Colorado and started working for the Martin Marietta Plant, where they were building rockets for the space program. It was there she met her future husband, Kenneth Hargis, ("Mr. Wonderful") who wooed her with his charm, good looks, wit and really bad poetry.

Shirley and Kenny were married in Denver on January 12, 1958. They spent the next few years in Littleton, Colorado. On December 30, 1965, Shirley gave birth to their only daughter, Anne Marie. They spent Anne's first years at their little grey house on Arbor Street. Unfortunately Kenneth lost his job at Martin Marietta, and the family moved to the family farm outside of Wilcox where Kenneth did various work until getting a job at Becton-Dickinson in Holdrege, Nebraska.

Shirley and Kenny eventually made their home in Wilcox, for over 25 years. Shirley continued to sing in the church choir in Funk and perform solos when asked. She also assisted with Wilcox Band Mothers and V.F.W. Legion Auxiliary. The Hargis' house had a huge yard and always beautiful flowers outside, which Shirley loved to tend. When she wasn't at home, Shirley worked in retail at various Holdrege locations, including: J.M. McDonalds, Millies' Dress Shop, Leslie's Fashions and her last job at Sun-Mart Bakery. In 2002, Shirley and Kenny moved out to the family farm and occupied her parent's home on the family farmstead until 2010 when they moved to Sunrise View Apartments in Holdrege. They continued to live here until Shirley's passing on Monday, April 4th, from complications from a stroke.

From the time she was in her 30s until her death, Shirley battled insulin-dependent diabetes. In 1971, her daughter Anne was also diagnosed with the disease. Like a lioness, Shirley spent most of Anne's early years protecting her, watching her health, boiling syringes, and fighting with doctors and insurance companies. There were too many doctor visits to mention, late night phone calls to the doctor, insulins shots (until Anne could do her own) and so much more. Shirley hated this disease, more for Anne's sake than for herself. She prayed that no other children would have to go through this.

Shirley fought many health battles bravely in later years, surviving two near-fatal open heart surgeries, diabetic neuropathy, a heart attack, and just the daily grind of insulin injections and blood testing. She fought each battle bravely with a smile on her face, a kind word to everyone and a deep faith in God in her heart.

Shirley leaves behind her husband of 58 years, Kenneth Hargis of Holdrege; her daughter, Anne Nau and husband, Dallas and beloved grandson, Avery Nau all of Kearney, Nebraska; sisters: Nancy Arnt of Boulder, Colorado and DonnaLe Harmon of Holdrege; brother, Gayle Bergstrom of rural Wilcox; sister and brother-in-law, Pat and Perk Lambert of Searcy, Arkansas. She also leaves behind nieces and nephews: Jennifer Arnt of Denver, Colorado; Zachary Arnt of Taiwan; Brent and Holly Artz of Wilcox; Brent and Cindy Bergstrom of Wilcox; Jill Guthrie of Hildreth; Jack and Donna Hargis of Huntington Beach, California; Zechariah McGee of Little Rock, Arkansas; Bryan and Jean Nitchie of Holdrege; Don and Pat Nitchie of Sioux City, Iowa; Vanessa and Perry Sendukas of Houston, Texas; Teresa and Larry Struble of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Sue and Rich Wyatt of Omaha.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Clem and Lenora Bergstrom and one nephew, Trevor Arnt of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with the family greeting friends from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege.

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

A memorial has been established in Shirley's honor and will be designated at a later date.

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