Obituary of LuAnn Jones

LuAnn Jones, age 63, of Menominee, NE, passed away Saturday, January 11, 2014 at the Avera Sister James Care Center, Yankton, SD. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 AM, Thursday, January 16, 2014 at St. Boniface Catholic Church, Menominee, NE with Rev. David Fulton officiating. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. Visitations will begin at 4:00 PM, Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at St. Boniface Church, Menominee, NE with a Wake service at 7:00 PM. Visitations will resume one hour prior to the service at the church. The Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton, is assisting with service details. Pallbearers will be her nephews: Brett Ballard, Brian Ballard, Brooks Shutt, Travis Loecker, Jason Loecker, and Tyler Stuerman. LuAnn was born on November 24, 1950, in Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton to Ignatius Loecker and Hildegard Albrecht Loecker. She attended St. Boniface School graduating from eighth grade and then graduating from Mount Marty High School. She then entered nursing school at Sioux Valley School of Nursing in Sioux Falls graduating in 1972. She worked for a year at Sacred Heart Hospital, and on August 3, 1973, she married her childhood sweetheart, Duane Jones. They moved to Arizona where LuAnn worked as a nurse and eventually became the director of nursing at the local hospital. In 1989, she and her family moved back to Nebraska where they bought her home farmstead. She returned to work at Sacred Heart hospital where she worked for 23 years with 22 years in the outpatient dialysis unit. She retired in October 2012 because of the advancement of her illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-Lou Gehrig's Disease). LuAnn enjoyed her flower garden, watching the many backyard song birds, traveling, and especially her grandchildren. She belonged to the St. Boniface Christian Mothers and St. Boniface Ladies Guild. LuAnn is survived by her husband, Duane of St. Helena, NE; son, Neil (Jennifer) of Ft. Collins, CO; daughters, Heather of Richmond, VA, Holly and fiancé Jason of Wilmington, NC, and Katie (Josh) Fischer of Vermillion, SD; grandchildren: Ansley, Jacob, Evan, Brogan, William, and Colin. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Denelda, and brother, Harold.