Pauline Meyer
Passed away: May 24, 2011Funeral Home: Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home
December 15, 1928 - May 24, 2011
Pauline Marie Charlotte Meyer, born December 15, 1928, was the oldest of
the Ben and Helena Hellbusch children. Her siblings are Luella Corliss
Sphon of Lincoln, NE, Harriet Easton and Melvin Hellbusch of Hebron,
NE. The family lived on a farm near Gilead with Pauline’s maternal
grandmother, Charlotte Vorderstrasse, and aunt, Henrietta Vorderstrasse.
Pauline attended elementary school at Thayer County District 81. She
took the first two years of her high school classes at Gilead, Nebraska
and then transferred to Fairbury because they offered Normal Training.
That was a program which trained students to become teachers in rural
elementary schools. Pauline had always had a dream of being a teacher.
She started teaching in a rural Thayer County school after graduation.
Later, she also taught in Jefferson County, Nebraska and Washington
County, Kansas schools. Part of the job description of the country
schools required her to be the school janitor. That meant sweeping and
dusting daily and firing up the heating stove on cold mornings. She also
taught in Gilead and Hebron and ended her forty-seven-year teaching
career while teaching special education classes in the Fairbury Public
Schools. During the years while she was teaching, Pauline earned both a
Bachelors and a Masters Degree from the University of Nebraska by
taking summer and night classes. Her vehicles (the last one named the
Silver Bullet by her nieces) were said to know the way to Lincoln
without a driver She married Calvin Meyer on June 8, 1951 in
Fort Hood Texas where he was stationed while in the United States Army.
After his discharge, they lived in Beatrice, on a farm near Gilead, and
in Gilead before moving to Fairbury in 1965. They had one daughter,
Phyllis. Calvin died of multiple sclerosis in 1973. After she retired
from teaching, Pauline enjoyed traveling. She and her sisters went to
Washington DC and Arizona to visit relatives. She also went on many bus
trips, visiting most of the states, including Hawaii. Pauline also
toured several European countries when she attended the Oberamergau
Passion Play. However, her favorite trips were to visit daughter Phyllis
and family wherever they were living. Pauline was very proud of her
granddaughter, Anna who is a senior at the University of North Dakota
and grandson, John, a sophomore at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Daughter, Phyllis, is a nursing faculty member at the University of
Toledo (Ohio) and her husband, Tim, is Dean, College of Nursing. One of
her favorite clubs after retirement was the Rock Creek Quilters and she
was their first president. She made almost 100 quilts and seveal wall
hangings. Phyllis and family have been the lucky recipients of several
wall hangings, table runners and quilts. Pauline has been very generous
with her quilts, giving one to each if her siblings, her nieces, her
nephew and their families as well as several cousins and friends.
Pauline was a member of the American Lutheran Church in
Fairbury. She also belonged to Delta Kappa Gamma and was involved in the
Council for Exceptional Children. After retirement, Pauline served on
the Fairbury Library Board and assisted with several of the Jefferson
County Historical Society projects. After a brief illness, she
graduated to heaven on May 24, 2011 at the age of 82. Pauline is
survived by her daughter, Phyllis Gaspar, her son-in-law, Timothy
Gaspar, her granddaughter, Anna Gaspar and her grandson, John Gaspar,
Other survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Luella and Chuck
Sphon, sister Harriet Easton of Hebron, her brother and sister-in-law,
Melvin and Kay Hellbusch. She is also survived by her brothers-in-law
and sisters-in-law, Beth Simmitt, Vi Meyer, John and Darlene Meyer,
Delbert and Sue Meyer, as well as her nieces and nephews, and many other
relatives and friends. She was proceded in death by her husband Calvin
and her parents, Ben and Helena Hellbusch. Services: 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 28, 2011, at American Lutheran Church in Fairbury.
Visitation with family: Friday May 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral
home. Burial: Fairbury Cemetery, Fairbury. Memorials to the Pi Chapter
Delta Kappa Gamma Education Scholarship Fund or Jefferson County
Historical Society. Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home in Fairbury is in charge.
Pauline Marie Charlotte Meyer, born December 15, 1928, was the oldest of
the Ben and Helena Hellbusch children. Her siblings are Luella Corliss
Sphon of Lincoln, NE, Harriet Easton and Melvin Hellbusch of Hebron,
NE. The family lived on a farm near Gilead with Pauline’s maternal
grandmother, Charlotte Vorderstrasse, and aunt, Henrietta Vorderstrasse.
Pauline attended elementary school at Thayer County District 81. She
took the first two years of her high school classes at Gilead, Nebraska
and then transferred to Fairbury because they offered Normal Training.
That was a program which trained students to become teachers in rural
elementary schools. Pauline had always had a dream of being a teacher.
She started teaching in a rural Thayer County school after graduation.
Later, she also taught in Jefferson County, Nebraska and Washington
County, Kansas schools. Part of the job description of the country
schools required her to be the school janitor. That meant sweeping and
dusting daily and firing up the heating stove on cold mornings. She also
taught in Gilead and Hebron and ended her forty-seven-year teaching
career while teaching special education classes in the Fairbury Public
Schools. During the years while she was teaching, Pauline earned both a
Bachelors and a Masters Degree from the University of Nebraska by
taking summer and night classes. Her vehicles (the last one named the
Silver Bullet by her nieces) were said to know the way to Lincoln
without a driver She married Calvin Meyer on June 8, 1951 in
Fort Hood Texas where he was stationed while in the United States Army.
After his discharge, they lived in Beatrice, on a farm near Gilead, and
in Gilead before moving to Fairbury in 1965. They had one daughter,
Phyllis. Calvin died of multiple sclerosis in 1973. After she retired
from teaching, Pauline enjoyed traveling. She and her sisters went to
Washington DC and Arizona to visit relatives. She also went on many bus
trips, visiting most of the states, including Hawaii. Pauline also
toured several European countries when she attended the Oberamergau
Passion Play. However, her favorite trips were to visit daughter Phyllis
and family wherever they were living. Pauline was very proud of her
granddaughter, Anna who is a senior at the University of North Dakota
and grandson, John, a sophomore at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
Daughter, Phyllis, is a nursing faculty member at the University of
Toledo (Ohio) and her husband, Tim, is Dean, College of Nursing. One of
her favorite clubs after retirement was the Rock Creek Quilters and she
was their first president. She made almost 100 quilts and seveal wall
hangings. Phyllis and family have been the lucky recipients of several
wall hangings, table runners and quilts. Pauline has been very generous
with her quilts, giving one to each if her siblings, her nieces, her
nephew and their families as well as several cousins and friends.
Pauline was a member of the American Lutheran Church in
Fairbury. She also belonged to Delta Kappa Gamma and was involved in the
Council for Exceptional Children. After retirement, Pauline served on
the Fairbury Library Board and assisted with several of the Jefferson
County Historical Society projects. After a brief illness, she
graduated to heaven on May 24, 2011 at the age of 82. Pauline is
survived by her daughter, Phyllis Gaspar, her son-in-law, Timothy
Gaspar, her granddaughter, Anna Gaspar and her grandson, John Gaspar,
Other survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Luella and Chuck
Sphon, sister Harriet Easton of Hebron, her brother and sister-in-law,
Melvin and Kay Hellbusch. She is also survived by her brothers-in-law
and sisters-in-law, Beth Simmitt, Vi Meyer, John and Darlene Meyer,
Delbert and Sue Meyer, as well as her nieces and nephews, and many other
relatives and friends. She was proceded in death by her husband Calvin
and her parents, Ben and Helena Hellbusch. Services: 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 28, 2011, at American Lutheran Church in Fairbury.
Visitation with family: Friday May 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral
home. Burial: Fairbury Cemetery, Fairbury. Memorials to the Pi Chapter
Delta Kappa Gamma Education Scholarship Fund or Jefferson County
Historical Society. Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home in Fairbury is in charge.