Irene Marie (Kuxhaus) Schwarting

Irene Marie (Kuxhaus) Schwarting, 85, was born on October 20, 1927 in a
tar paper shack on the farm north of Batesland, SD to Johann (Fred) and
Mary Kuxhaus.  She worked on the family farm and attended Bennett County
High School in Martin, SD.
 
On March 9, 1946, she married Lyle Henry Schwarting.  It was the beginning
of a life long partnership that lasted over 67 years.  They lived near
Swett, SD for a couple of years before moving 7 miles east of Gordon, NE. 
She worked side by side with Lyle with all of the farming and ranching. 
They had a son, Donald and daughter, Sandra who helped out, too.
 
When they moved to town in 1966, she worked at Gambles and then LaMona’s
House of Fashion.  In 1980, they bought the Arrowhead Inn at White Clay,
NE.  She did the bookkeeping and helped work and clean there.
 
In retirement, she enjoyed gardening and caring for their home.  After
Lyle’s stroke in 2003, she lovingly cared for him and helped him with
things that he could no longer manage to do himself.
 
Irene suffered a stroke in July of 2010 and the two of them moved to
Gordon Countryside Care.  She passed away there on April 13, 2013, only 3
weeks after Lyle died.
 
Irene was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Lyle; her son,
Donald; and her brothers, Fredrick and Willard.
 
Survivors include Connie Schwarting of Rapid City, S.D. and her children,
Nicole (Joseph) Tuma of Rapid City, Jared (Rebecca) Schwarting of Queen
Creek, Ariz., Jason (Brooke) Schwarting of Rushville, Neb., and Justin
Schwarting of Glendale, Ariz.; and Sandra (Gerald) Bruns of Billings,
Mont. and their children, Corri of Billings, and Derek (Melissa) Bruns of
Olsbrucken, Germany. Her great grandchildren: Ashley, Michael and Payton
Tuma, Ryan, Dylan and Kaitlyn Schwarting, Tristan Tuma, Kobe and Keenan
Schwarting, Riley, Alex and Michael Bruns.  Also surviving are her
sisters, Dorothy (Ellis Rae) Hicks, Betty (Gordon) Plowe, Donna (Dave)
Harrington; her brother, Charles (Karen) Kuxhaus; Willard’s wife, Dorothy
Kuxhaus; and her sisters-in-law, Lola (Stanley) Kruse and Dorothy (Robert)
Anderson.
 
Although our hearts are broken with her passing, we will continue on
because, as she always said, “You just do what you have to do.”

Funeral services were held Saturday, April 20, 2013, 10:00am, at the Grace Lutheran Church, Gordon, Nebraska, with Reverend Travis Sherman officiating.  Burial was in the Gordon Cemetery.

A memorial has been established and donations may be sent in care of Chamberlain-Pier Funeral Home, PO Box 366 Gordon, NE, 69343.