Lois Fern McCloud

Memorials to the Hooper Care Center. Lois Fern McCloud was born July 18, 1918 outside of Ashby, NE. Fern and her brother, Ray lived with their parents in a sod house on a cattle ranch where her father was a prominent rancher. Fern loved to tell stories of time spent living in the sod house, preparing big meals for the ranch hands with her mother, and attending Saturday night barn dances. Fern and her brother would ride horse back to school. When Fern’s Father died suddenly at the age of 42, they left the ranch and her mother opened a bed and breakfast inside the town of Ashby, and stayed there until she died in 1977. Fern married Hall McCloud in 1939 and they lived in Hyannis, NE. Soon after, they moved to Omaha where Hall was an instructor at the Omaha School of Welding. Fern attended school at Tech Hi and completed training in operating hand tools and reading blue prints. She then went to work at the Martin Plant (which is now Offutt Air Force Base) where she and Hal both worked on the B-29 Super Fortress, “Enola Gray” that dropped the bomb on Hirosima. Hal soon got a pilots license and the two of them would sometimes fly to Ashby to see her mother. Fern and Hall had two children, Gregory born in 1948 and Sharon in 1951. They lived on an acreage near Waterloo, NE where the kids graduated from high school. Hall died suddenly of a heart attack in 1970, but not before he was able to meet his first grandson, Jason. Her daughter Sharon had three children, Jason, Jenny and Stacie, who then gave Fern nine great grandchildren. Greg married Beverly, who had two children, Rhonda and Dave. Rhonda has two children, Ben and Emily. Grandchildren were very important to Fern. She attended every sporting event, big life moment, birthday, and holiday to support and celebrate her grandkids. She sewed Halloween costumes every year, made everyone’s favorite birthday dessert, and specialized in baking and decorating Christmas cookies. Fern was a big sports fan, but her favorite sport was baseball. She loved watching Major League Baseball and especially loved attending and watching her oldest grandson play for the Pirates, Cardinals, Giants, and Angels. She was so very proud of Jason and his success in baseball. She printed every article, recorded every televised game, kept his stats, and went to countless games. She was a huge fan even after Jason was done playing baseball. Fern never remarried and lived in Valley, NE most of her adult life. She lived on her own until she was 90, when she moved into Assisted Living in Valley. During this time her family noticed a decline in her memory and mobility, though her health was super. Fern was moved to Hooper Care Center at the young age of 95, where every year we celebrated her birthday like it may be her last. While at Hooper, Fern started to talk more and more about Ashby, her mother, the Saturday night dances, and her life on the ranch. We knew our time with her was coming to an end. On Tuesday evening Fern left this earth. Fern, we hope you’re at a barn dance in heaven. McCloud, Lois “Fern” age 99 years of Valley, NE Survived by daughter Sharon Christiansen of Omaha and son and daughter-in-law Gregg and Beverly McCloud of Lake Placid, FL; 5 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren; Visitation Sunday 3 to 5 PM at the funeral home with a prayer service at 5 PM; Private graveside service at Evergreen Memorial Park; Memorials to Hooper Care Center; condolences to www.reichmuthfuneralhomes.com Reichmuth Funeral Home 21901 W. Maple Rd. 402-289-2222

Lois Fern McCloud

July 18, 1918 - March 13, 2018