Luella (Lucke) Schmidt

Luella M. (Nielsen) (Lucke) Schmidt, 93, of Scottsbluff, died Wednesday, March 25, 2015, at Golden Living Center in Scottsbluff. At her request cremation has taken place. Inurnment was held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 30 at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery near Scottsbluff with Reverend Jeffrey Grams officiating. Memorials may be given to the St. John’s Lutheran Church Women’s Missionary Society.

Luella was born Nov. 30, 1921, at Creighton to Fredrick and Myrtle (Johnson) Nielsen. She grew up there, graduating from Creighton High School with the class of 1938. Following graduation she moved with her family to live in the Haig area. She taught school in Banner County for several years.

Luella married Laurence Lucke on Aug. 7, 1941, in Scottsbluff. They moved to Texas where Laurence served in the Army Air Corp during WWII. In 1945, Luella and Laurence returned to live in the Haig area with their first two sons, Ed and Wes. The family added two more sons, Duane and Stan, to make the family complete. In 1965, they left Haig to establish a new home on Avenue P in Scottsbluff. Luella lived here until several years after Laurence’s death in 1979. On Feb. 14, 1983, Luella married Alvin Schmidt and moved to Ave E in Scottsbluff. Their shared companionship lasted until Alvin’s death in 2005.

Luella was a lifelong member of St. John’s Lutheran Church where she was a member of the Women’s Missionary Society. She enjoyed knitting and quilt-making.

Luella is survived by her sons and their families: Edward and Joan of Brinnon, Wash., Duane and Laura of Scottsbluff, Stan and Jeannie of Scottsbluff, and Wes of Denton, Texas; brother Gene Nielsen and his wife Shirley; sisters-in-law Edna Fischer and Virginia Nielsen; six grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren.

Luella was preceded in death by her parents, two husbands, brother Fred Nielsen, sister Mildred Hardin, and granddaughters Suzanne and Teresa.

Abstracted from the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Feb 2015