Patricia R. Hunsche

Patricia Ruth Lippincott Hunsche was born July 16, 1934 on the family farm 5 miles north of Blair to E. Clark and Ethel (Anderson) Lippincott. She attended Pleasant View Country School and graduated from Blair High School with the class of 1951. Pat was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church. She attended Dana college for one year. After working in Omaha for a year she enlisted, on February 23, 1953 in the United States Navy Waves. She took basic training in Bainbridge, Maryland and then was quartered in Arlington, Virginia. Pat’s most memorable military experience was working at the Pentagon. After 3 years she was transferred to the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California and was discharged from the Navy in 1957. She then worked for General Dynamics/Astronautics in San Diego and Nebraska. Upon returning to Blair, she was employed at the Washington County Bank where she worked as a Bank Teller for 33 years. Pat married Warren (Bud) Hunsche at First Lutheran Church on December 30, 1964. To this union one daughter, Terri, was born. Pat was heavily involved in genealogy as evidenced by the many scrapbooks she created for various parts of the family tree. She and Bud were known to visit many cemeteries in Nebraska looking for dates on headstones. She read the newspapers with “scissors in hand” as she clipped obituaries and wedding and anniversary articles. Those were saved in the appropriate scrapbook. Pat was instrumental in the Washington County Genealogy Society and was thrilled with the room provided in the new Blair Library. She helped many community members search for their genealogy records. Pat was a proud Veteran and was responsible for gathering the names of all 6,000 plus Washington County Veterans to be placed on the new Veteran’s Plaza Wall dedicated in November of 2008. Many hours were spent combing through old newspapers to find needed information and she continued to add names each year. Pat was an organizer of the Flatwater Waves Group of Nebraska and planned their meetings which became more difficult as the group was aging and many could no longer travel the distances to get together. Pat was proud to continue the “Bench Club” which was organized by her mother Ethel Lippincott in 1921. This brought neighborhood ladies together for a social afternoon and children came along to play with one another. The numbers have dwindled and there are no longer small children, but time for reminiscing is still enjoyed. After retirement, Pat enjoyed helping with Love Days at First Lutheran Church. The Blair High School Class of 1951 held frequent reunions thanks to the effort of Pat to plan an event for “catching up” with one another and recalling their high school days. Survivors are her husband Warren “Bud” Hunsche of Blair; daughter Terri Hunsche of Omaha; step-son Robert P. Hunsche of Kansas City, Missouri; 6 step-grandchildren; several step great-grandchildren; brothers Tom (Janice) Lippincott of Blair and Bill (Elna) Lippincott of Blair; brother-in-law Bob Christensen of Blair; many nieces, nephews, and cousins; and innumerable friends. Preceding her in death were her parents, sister Ginny Beck, parents-in-law Irene and Henry Hunsche, brothers-in-law John Beck & Earl Pace, sisters-in-law Charlotte Pace and Marian Christensen, and step-daughter Barbara Hunsche Kling.