Ethel Vannice

Funeral Services were held 2:00 P.M., Monday, October 9, 1989 at the Aurora United Methodist Church. Interment was held in the Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, Nebraska.

OBITUARY: Ethel Vannice

Ethel Vannice, the daughter of James and Martha (Owens) Ashmore, was born at Exeter, Nebraska on November 15, 1891, and passed away at Grand Island, Nebraska on October 6, 1989 at the age of 97 years, 10 months, and 21 days.

In 1898 her folks sold the family farm and moved into McCool Junction where her father purchased and operated a grocery and drygoods store. She attended school in McCool Junction, where she graduated from high school. Ethel worked for her father for seven years and at his death, she and her mother, her sister Florence and her brother Harold ran the store for two years and then sold it and moved to York. She went to work at Middlebrook Store in York as a clerk and worked there for 16 years, and “She just liked to meet people.”

On November 16, 1935, she was united in marriage to Rev. Avalo Vannice at Lincoln, who was then a United Bretheran Conference Superintendent. They moved to Marquette in 1946, where he preached for 5 years, and in 1951 they moved to Aurora. Rev. Vannice died on September 11, 1954. Ethel continued to live in Aurora, and for the last several years she had resided at the Hamilton Manor, where she attended and was active in most activities.

Ethel was a member of Royal Neighbors and Aurora Women’s Club, where she was secretary for 5 years and chairman of the literary department for 4 years. She was a member of the United Methodist Church where she was a Sunday School teacher for many years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, 2 brothers and one sister.

Those who remain to cherish her memory are her brother, Harold Ashmore and his wife Frances, 2 step-daughters, Lucille Bates of Las Vegas, Nevada and Verniece Cook of Los Angeles, California, and nieces and nephews.