Mary Ann Andersen
NORFOLK – Funeral service for Mary Ann Andersen, 59, Norfolk, will be 10:30 a.m., Feb. 16, 2022, at the St. John’s Lutheran Church, Norfolk. Rev. Randy Rasmussen will be officiating the service.
Interment will be at the Prospect Hill Cemetery, Norfolk.
Visitation will be 4-7 p.m., Feb. 15, at the church.
Mary died Feb. 3, 2022, at St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Care Center, Norfolk, after a short but hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer.
Stonacek Funeral Chapel, Norfolk, is in charge of the arrangements.
Mary was born Jan. 11, 1963, the youngest child of Cliff and Violet (Landburg) Milander. She was raised on a farm north of Coleridge and attended Coleridge Community Schools, graduating in 1981. While in high school, she started working at Park View Haven Nursing Home, Coleridge, a job that would lead to a lifetime nursing career. After graduation from high school, she attended St. Luke’s School of Nursing, Sioux City, Iowa. She graduated from St. Luke’s in May 1984 and started working at the Norfolk Regional Center as a Registered Nurse. Even though she had started her nursing career, Mary was a lifelong learner. She continued her nursing education while working full time, completing her Bachelor’s, then her Master’s and eventually her APRN from University of Nebraska Med Center. She worked at the Norfolk Regional Center for 29 years. When she left, she was the nurse supervisor on the 1W ward. While working for the Regional Center, she also worked as an Adjunct instructor for NECC, guiding nursing students through their psych rotation. In 2013, she left the Regional Center and started her career as a nursing instructor at UNMC CON Northern Division on the NECC campus. Mary also worked as an APRN for Oasis Counseling beginning in 2017. Mary loved nursing and teaching the next generation of nurses.
Mary and Kevin Andersen were married May 24, 1986, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Coleridge, and made their home in Hadar. Mary and Kevin were made for each other, and they celebrated 35 happy years of marriage together. They spent a great deal of time traveling to many sporting events, especially Husker football and volleyball games. They also spent a great amount of time attending their great-nieces’ and great-nephews’ activities. She loved watching any activity they were involved in, whether it be sports or the fine arts, you could find Mary and Kevin there cheering for them. They took many trips together, including the Rose Bowl to see the National Championship game in 2002, and to Washington DC in 2010 to take Kevin’s mom and dad to see the WWII Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Mary was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Norfolk, The American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, American Psychiatric Nurse Association, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Mary is survived by her husband, Kevin; her mother-in-law, Betty Andersen; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Lois Milander, Betty Jo Deck, Linda (David) Kohl, Howard (Becky) Allvin and Gary (Carla) Andersen; several nieces and nephews, and many great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Wendell; her brother and sister-in-law, William and Florene Milander; her father-in-law, Marvin Andersen; a niece, Vicky Kennedy; and a nephew, Christopher Andersen.