Joanne George

Joanne George, age 65, of Aurora died Sunday, May 1, 2011, at her home after a courageous battle with cancer.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 A.M., Thursday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Aurora. Fr. Dennis Hunt will officiate. Interment will be in the Aurora Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 P.M. Wednesday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Aurora, with the Rosary at 7:00 P.M. Memorials may be made to the Knights of Columbus Scholarship Fund, St. Mary’s Church Building Fund or the American Cancer Society. Condolences may be e-mailed to the family through the mortuary website at www.higbymortuary.com.

OBITUARY: JOANNE GEORGE

Joanne George, the daughter of Joseph and Adella (Pekarek) Novotny was born on April 30, 1946 in Columbus, Nebraska and passed away on May 1, 2011 at Aurora, Nebraska at the age of 65.

She spent her childhood on a farm in rural Clarkson, Nebraska. Joanne attended District 14 K-8. She then attended Norfolk Assumption Academy grades 9th and 10th. Joanne attended Clarkson High School for her final two years of high school, graduating in 1964. After high school, she attended Duchesne College.

Joanne married Gene George on January 14, 1967 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church Heun in rural Colfax County. They made their home on a farm east of Aurora, where Joanne spent the rest of her life as a farm wife and mother.

Joanne belonged to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Aurora. She enjoyed attending children's and grandchildren's activities. Joanne and her family and friends enjoyed weekends at the Cabin.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Adella, infant son Mark and father-in-law Willis George.

Those surviving are her husband Gene of Aurora; four children, Christine (Jay) Schulze of Aurora, Matthew (Rachel) of Seward, Sara (John)) Laird of Forked River, New Jersey and Thomas George and fiancée Kaiti Roeder of Kearney; 7 grandchildren, Emma, Owen, and Arden George of Seward, Brian and Levi Schulze of Aurora and Grace and Jack Laird of Forked River, New Jersey. She is also survived by a brother Donald (Dorothy) Novotny of Rockville, Maryland; a sister, Sandra Novotny and spouse Thearin Wendel of Kensington, Maryland; mother-in-law Camilla George of Aurora; three sisters-in-law, Harriet (Mike) Barron, Evelyn (John) May and Bethel George all of Aurora, and many nieces and nephews.