Earlene Mae Sterba

Earlene Mae Sterba

May 7,1933 – February 28, 2025

Preceded in death by husband, Henry F. Sterba.

Survived by her children: Hank Sterba, Jr. (Jodeen), Jody Sterba, Christopher Sterba (Gabrielle Van Houten); grandchildren, Evan and Natalie; and many other loving family members.

Vigil Service: Sunday, March 9^th, 3pm at West Center Chapel with visitation from 2-4pm.

Mass of Christian Burial: Monday, March 10^th, 10:30am at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.

Interment: Calvary

Memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler, West Center Chapel, 7805 West Center Road, Omaha, Ne 68124. (402)-391-3900. www.heafeyheafey.com

IN MEMORIAM:  Earlene Mae Sterba (1933-2025)

Mom died 2 days after we buried our dad.  Eleven days after his death.  We did not tell her that he had died.  She had severe dementia. We did not want to stress her or cause her harm by telling her.  But she somehow knew in her heart that he was gone, and she wanted to be with him.

It was a tough 2 years for my mom and dad.  They moved into Ovation assisted living in March of 2022.  My Dad always hated it. He said that it was great except that there were too many old people there!!  As my mom succumbed deeper and deeper into dementia, my dad tried his hardest to take care of her.  She sometimes would need to go to the bathroom 6 times through the course of the night.  And would ask him the same questions over and over again. But he refused help and wanted to do it all on his own. When his own health declined, he finally broke down and decided to move her into Ovation Memory Care about a month ago.  He quickly declined physically and was riddled with guilt about sending her into Memory Care and not being with her.  She declined right along with him—stopped talking and recognizing her family.

But the good news, is that they are back together now. It is a pretty wonderful love story.  After being married for 71 years, —they could not be without each other and now they are together forever!

Earlene was born in Elmwood, Nebraska. She was the last surviving Kumpf out of nine children. Raymond, Katherine, Robert, Lola, Betty, Virginia, Charles, Merlyn, and Roger, all preceded her in death. She grew up on a small farm in Omaha. She attended South High School and met the love of her life, Henry Sterba. They were married on Jan 2, 1952. Following their marriage the couple moved to Norfolk, VA where Henry was stationed in the Coast Guard.  After his discharge, they moved to Fort Wayne, IN where Henry got his degree in Electrical Engineering. Henry’s first job took them to San Diego, CA in 1957. They had many happy years hanging with Al and Audrey Wilkins and their two sons, Al and Mark in Huntington Beach, CA.

The family moved back to Omaha in 1970. Earlene entered the work force in 1973 initially working in customer service at J.C. Penny and then moved to the sales department at Omaha Steaks where she remained for 25 years. She was a passionate, dedicated employee and loved everyone that she worked with, continuing those friendships into her retirement.

Her greatest source of joy however were her children and grandchildren. She took great pride in supporting her grandchildren and spending as much time with them as she could. Earlene loved gardening and feeding the birds. We can still remember her saying to Henry, “The bird feeder is empty.”  Most of all, she loved her Saturday shopping trips with Audrey Wilkins in CA, and with Johanna Kozeny in Omaha.

Preceded in death by husband, Henry F. Sterba.

Survived by her children: Hank Sterba, Jr. (Jodeen), Jody Sterba, Christopher Sterba (Gabrielle Van Houten); grandchildren, Evan and Natalie; and many other loving family members.