Friday, July 1, 2011

Exeter Softball 10 and under

Exeter Under 10 Softball League
Front row from the left Kayla Geiger, Caitlin Murphy, Jaiden Papik, Olivia Murphy, Cammie Harrison, Macy Due and Janey Erdkamp.  Back row from the left are Coach Jane Beethe, Vicki Androyna, Hannah Beethe, Katie Mounce, Hannah Horne, Clarissa Mounce, Jacy Schlueter, Katherine White, and Coach Mark Beethe.

The fifth grade girls paused for a moment with their second place plaque from the League Tournament.  They also, placed fourth at Districts and have now qualified for the State Tourney. From the left they are Vicki Androyna, Hannah Beethe, Katie Mounce, Hannah Horne, Clarissa Mounce and Janey Erdkamp.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Obituary Lori Ruhl-Walford

Lori Louise Ruhl-Walford was born December 12, 1960 to Gary and Delores (Rasmussen) Ruhl in Friend, Nebraska.  She was the second of seven children born into the family.  In November, 2010, Lori was diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer.   After a courageous battle, she died at her home in Exeter on June 25, 2011, at the age of 50 years, 6 months and 13 days.    

Lori was baptized and confirmed at St. Stephens Catholic Church in Exeter.  She attended St. Stephens Catholic School until it closed in 1967.  She then attended Exeter Public School participating in athletics, band and cheerleading.  She graduated with the class of 1979.    

Lori continued her education at College of St. Mary’s in Omaha, earning her Associate’s degree in nursing in 1982.  After working several years she furthered her education at Creighton University where she graduated suma cum laude with bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1999.  Lori had a true passion for nursing; she loved her work and dedicated her entire career caring for others.  She most recently worked at Fillmore County Hospital in Geneva where she found the staff and administrators to be very appreciative, caring and supportive.   Lori’s excellence in her nursing career and kindheartedness for past patients became evident when she was diagnosed.    She received numerous cards and letters from many of her former patients and families of loved ones that she had once cared for. 

On July 3, 1982, Lori was united in marriage to Douglas Hall.  To this union three daughters were born, Christina Anne, Sheena Elizabeth and Justina Jenae. 

On January 19, 2001, Lori married her soul mate, Jerry Walford and welcomed his son, Kelan into the family.   After living in Seward for a few years they moved to Exeter and spent several years restoring their home to its original beauty.    She was gifted with decorating talents and her home was spectacular down to the smallest details.   

Lori loved her flowers.  Over the years she established a beautiful garden and spent much of her free time tending to the roses and keeping the flower garden picture perfect.    Raised in a home filled with music, she took piano lessons for many years.  She still loved playing and enjoyed watching her granddaughter learn to play.    

Lori was dedicated to her work and her family.  She was always a huge supporter of her daughters in all their activities growing up and faithfully attended every activity they were involved in.    Since becoming a grandmother; she especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and was looking forward to the arrival of her third grandchild.     

Lori was a caring and loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter and sister.  She will be missed dearly by those left behind, including her husband Jerry; daughters, Christina (Zac) Hartmann, of Exeter, NE, Sheena Hall, of York, NE,  J.J.  (Zachary) Becker of Lincoln, NE; son, Kelan Walford of Lincoln, NE; mother, Delores Bailey of York, NE;  two brothers , Robert (Patrice) Ruhl, of Exeter, NE, Dale (Angela) Ruhl, of Lincoln, NE; four sisters,  Kay Due,  Rhonda Maxson, of Exeter, NE,Jean (Jim) McKinnon and Kelli (Dan) Anderson,  of Lincoln, NE; Mother-in-law, Dorothy Walford of York, NE;  brother-in-law, Randy Walford ( fiancĂ© Gail Lutz); two sisters-in-law, Brenda (Scott) Farmer, Deb (Todd) Henkel, of Lincoln, NE;  two grandchildren, Cayden and Alivia Hartmann of Exeter, NE.  She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends. 

She was preceded in death by her father, Gary Ruhl; step-father, Gene Bailey; grandparents, Bernard and Anna Rasmussen and William and Margaret Ruhl; father-in-law, Douglas Walford; and a special great-uncle, Henry Olsen.   

Funeral services were held Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Exeter, Nebraska, with Father Tom Kuffel officiating.  Nancy Jo Galusha accompanied Tela Christensen who sang, “Surely  The Presence”, “Ten Thousand Angels”, “I Can Only Imagine”, “Mary Did You Know”, “It’s A Wonderful World” and “Because He Lives.”  Casket bearers were Brent Ruhl, Malory Ruhl, Anthony Ruhl, Jalen Maxson, Kassie McKinnon and Darrell Rasmussen.  Honorary bearers were Alex Due and Anthony Due.  Rosary was Tuesday Evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Farmer Funeral Home in Exeter.   Interment was in the Exeter Cemetery.  Memorials are directed to the family.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Becker Takes Immersion Trip to Tanzania

 
Kayla Becker shows some of her souvenirs from her visit to Tanzania.  She holds a candle and a coconut sugar bowl along with a piece of cloth which the natives used for everything from a garment to a carrying bag.  Sugar cane is one of the primary crops and one that Becker enjoyed at every opportunity.
 
 Kayla Becker sits in the middle of a crowd of Tanzanian school children who were fascinated with her long hair.


Kayla Becker climbed to the top of the Sanje Waterfall which is tallest waterfall in Udzungwa Mountains National Park.
 
Kayla Becker (middle row third from the left) with her group from St. Benedict and St. John's in Tanzania.



Kayla Becke, a College of St. Benedict student and Exeter native recently returned from a service and immersion trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The trip was sponsored by the joint campus ministry group from the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.

Prior to the trip Becker was unable to attend many of the group meetings and planning sessions because of her school and work schedule so she started the trip not knowing any of the other nine participants or their leader very well but ended with a lifetime of wonderful experiences.

The group started their trip in Dar es Salaam which is the largest city in Tanzania. There they met their driver for the trip, Good Luck, who Becker said “was a godsend for the entire trip.”

Their first adventure was a bus ride to the tiny town of Hanga where their group leader had previously spent nine months teaching school. The bus ride on the only paved road in Tanzania was normally an eight hour trip ended up taking them 17 grueling hours.  During their travels they passed by the Mikumi National Park getting their first glimpse of roaming giraffes and elephants.

Arriving in Hanga the group first toured the school where their leader had taught and what surprised Becker the most was the sign posted which stated “speak English, everything was taught in English except the Swahili course.”

Visiting the school was “the most interesting and overwhelming experience” for Becker. She was able to watch the interaction between the students who board at the school which is supported in part by College of St Benedict. “I thought the older and younger students hanging out together were just siblings but it turns out that the older students just take care of the new younger students.”

Both Becker, with her long hair and another teammate who is blonde fascinated the students. Their location is so isolated that they rarely see white people and especially those with long or blond hair. When Becker reached down to pick something up she was immediately surrounded by children touching her hair.

Another of the highlights for Becker was seeing the library at the school where many of the books that were collected at her own university in drop boxes noted “Books for Africa” were cataloged and used in Africa.
Soccer is the main form of entertainment in the small community and the group had the opportunity along with everyone else in town to watch a game. Becker was surprised at how “green” the community was, “all their power was solar or hydro - the whole village.”

While advanced in their power sources, Becker experienced the centuries old typical African scenes, “Women really do carry things on their head and the children do as well.”

The group shared their meals with their hosts, “scrambled eggs for breakfast and a lot of vegetable curry sauce, collard greens and ugali (a tasteless corn mush). We ate a lot of rice and beans, there were not many choices at all for meals, typically we had the same thing every day for breakfast, lunch and supper. Fortunately our leader brought a small supply of spices which saved us,” Becker recalled.

The next location for their group was in the mountain town of Imiliwaha, where they worked at a convent run orphanage. While there they came and helped with the night feedings in the nursery. “Lots of tough love there, many of the children are not true orphans, their mothers have died and the culture there does not allow for fathers to raise their children. Once they turn 16 or 18 they go back to their families,” explained Becker.

After a few days at the orphanage the group spent a few days in Mbamba Bay on the border of Tanzania and the Congo on the beach. After a few days of R & R they returned to Hanga for a Jubilee celebration for the Bishop who had served there for 50 years.

Becker was impressed with the amount of preparation for the five-hour long mass of celebration. “Dancers had been practicing for months and had special costumes made. The service never got boring as there was so much singing and dancing. You never knew what the baskets on the heads of the people contained for the gifts. Lots of chickens.”

At the Jubilee all of the bishops in the country (over 40) were present along with the former President of Tanzania. Leaving Hanga again the group traveled to Udzungwa Mountains National Park and climbed to the top and of the Sanje Waterfall which is tallest waterfall in Tanzania National Parks.

The next day the group took a safari in Mikumi National Park where they saw zebras, gazelles, wildebeests and other animals all grazing together. Later in the tour they spotted elephants, hippos barely visible in a huge hippo pool, crocodiles, zebras, and baboons. At the beginning of the safari they were thrilled to see a pride of lions before they escaped the heat of the day in bush areas.

The final adventure of their experience was a trip by ferry to Zanzibar. While there they toured a spice plantation, swam with dolphins, and experienced a performance of tribal dances before returning to Dar es Salaam and back to the States.

Becker hasn’t finished her world travels, she will spend the fall semester studying abroad in Fremantle, Australia, a suburb of Perth. While there Becker will attend University of Notre Dame Australia. Becker is looking forward, “to returning to Australia and finding an opportunity for service there. Part of the study abroad program is spending a week with Aboriginals.”

Monday, June 27, 2011

Exeter Aquatic Center Offers Swimming Lessons

The Exeter Aquatic Center will once again offer Red Cross Certified Swimming Lessons

Lessons will begin on July 5th and run through July 15th.  Lessons will be taught by Red Cross Certified Instructors Kim and Alex Shaner.

Register your 5 year old and up by calling the pool at 266-3001.  Please call the pool with any other questions about lessons.  The cost is $20.00/child.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Death Notice: Lori Ruhl-Walford

Lori L. Ruhl - Walford
Age 50 of Exeter, Nebraska

Born to Gary & Delores ( Rasmussen ) Ruhl on December 12,1960  at Friend, Nebraska
died at home in Exeter on Saturday June 25, 2011

Survivors include:

Husband
Jerry --- Exeter
Daugthers & Sons-in-law
Christina & Zac Hartmann --- Exeter, NE
Sheena Hall --- York, Ne
J.J. & Zachary Becker --- Lincoln, NE
Son
Kelan Walford ---- Lincoln, Ne
Mother
Delores Bailey --- York, NE
Sisters & brothers-in-law
Kay Due --- Exeter, NE
Rhonda Maxson --- Exeter, NE
Jean & Jim McKinnon --- Lincoln, NE
Kelly & Dan Anderson --- Lincoln, NE
Brothers & sisters-in-law
Robert Ruhl & Patrice Exeter, NE
Dale Ruhl & Angela --- Lincoln, NE
2 Grandchildren
Cayden & Alivia Hartmann
 
Visitation Beginning Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. until rosary at the Farmer Funeral Home in
Exeter, Nebraska
 
Rosary Service Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Farmer Funeral Home - Exeter

Funeral Services 10:00 a.m. Wednesday Officiating is Father Tom Kuffel
St. Stephen's Catholic Church
Exeter, Nebraska

Memorials To the Family
Burial at Exeter Cemetery
Exeter, Nebraska