Verna Nadine Ekstrom

On April 15, 2024, Verna Nadine Ekstrom (known mostly as Nadine) passed away peacefully when she was called home to the lord. She was born on November 10, 1925 to Roy and Florence in Pocahontas, Iowa. She grew up on a farm and enjoyed the outdoor life and had a special affinity and love for farm animals and pets. After graduating from high school in 1943, she moved with her sister Fern Lorraine to Omaha where she got a job during the war working at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Manufacturing plant assembling bombers for the war effort. She was a true “Rosie the Riveter” as she worked to assemble and rivet the covering to the aircraft wings. At the end of the war, she worked as a bank teller and attended church at First Covenant Church in Omaha. Here she met Arthur Ekstrom who had just recently returned from the war in Europe. Nadine and Authur married on October 19, 1946, and had her first child Cheryl in August 1947 and her second child, Gary, in June 1949. They remained in Omaha to work and raise a family until 1963 when they relocated to Cheyenne, WY.

While living in Omaha Nadine was a housewife and mother. She also became the church organist at Bensonvale Covenant church when it opened in the 1950’s. She was always active in the church and her life was characterized by a love of music, cooking, baking, and reading. She found herself with an “empty nest” in the summer of 1967 and decided to look for employment. She obtained an administrative position within the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and worked there for years. She was always a generous financial supporter of multiple Christian organizations, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the local animal shelter.

Nadine took her responsibilities very seriously in raising her children. She wanted very much for things to go right for the family. She cared enough to expose the family to the right things and in doing that they learned to value honesty, respect, good manners, a sense of order, and stability in the home that many others did not have. She taught them to be conservative and not wasteful, and to value quality because it will endure.

Nadine leaves behind to honor her life: brother Richard; daughter Cheryl Candiracci; son Gary Ekstrom; grandchildren Michael (Cherry), Amy, Peter (Casey); great grandchildren Nicholas, Mikayla, Ariana, Dallen, Bradly, Morgan, Colton and Alyssa; and great great grandchildren Rosie, Charlotte, Micah, Brennick and Paisley. She was preceded in death by her parents Roy and Florence, husband Arthur, sister Fern Lorraine, and brothers Roy and Harry.