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Maurine Christine (Nelson) Eckloff, 82, of Kearney, formerly of Minden, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010, at her home. Maurine was born April 18, 1928, on the family farm near Upland to Henry and Christine (Raun) Nelson.
On Sept. 3, 1954, she married Warren Eckloff in Minden. He died in 1995.
Survivors are: sons, Nate Eckloff and his wife, Diane, of Englewood, Colo., and Ward Eckloff and his wife, Christyne, of Minden; daughter, Ann Watts and her husband, Shannon, of Holdrege; grandchildren, Amanda Silver, Trey Eckloff (Warren III), Weston Nelson Eckloff, Jamie Silver and Cole Watts; great-granddaughter, Leandra Silver; brother, Gilbert Nelson and...
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Maurine Christine (Nelson) Eckloff, 82, of Kearney, formerly of Minden, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010, at her home. Maurine was born April 18, 1928, on the family farm near Upland to Henry and Christine (Raun) Nelson.
On Sept. 3, 1954, she married Warren Eckloff in Minden. He died in 1995.
Survivors are: sons, Nate Eckloff and his wife, Diane, of Englewood, Colo., and Ward Eckloff and his wife, Christyne, of Minden; daughter, Ann Watts and her husband, Shannon, of Holdrege; grandchildren, Amanda Silver, Trey Eckloff (Warren III), Weston Nelson Eckloff, Jamie Silver and Cole Watts; great-granddaughter, Leandra Silver; brother, Gilbert Nelson and his wife, Myra, of Minden; and a host of friends and relatives.
Maurine was the fourth child of Henry Victor and Christine (Raun) Nelson. Her grandparents, Peter and Mary (Nielsen) Nelson and Peter and Anna Marie Raun, homesteaded in Kearney County in the late 1800s. She was baptized at Osco Baptist Church.
Maurine attended Zyba grade school in southern Kearney County and graduated from Minden High School in 1945.
Maurine first attended Hastings College and then transferred and graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor of arts degree in speech, theater and broadcasting in 1948 at age 20. She was a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.
Following graduation she worked at KOLN-TV in Lincoln before traveling to California and landing a job at CBS in Los Angeles. At CBS she worked in the script department for "The Ozzie and Harriet Show," "The Jack Benny Show," "The Lucy Show" and the Andrews Sisters, among others.
Maurine then moved to Gettysburg, Pa., where she worked as the program manager and daily broadcaster for radio station WGET. In Gettysburg, she was the host of "The Women's Voice" radio program.
Following that, she moved back to Denver and was the programming and traffic manager for KBTV, Channel 9 in Denver, now KUSA. Maurine then moved back to Nebraska and taught high school English at Broken Bow Public Schools in the early 1950s.
She married Warren Nathanael Eckloff at First Christian Church in Minden. They made their home on the family farm four miles northwest of Minden. They had been married for more than 40 years when Warren died in 1995. To this union there were four children - Warren Nathan "Nate," Christine Louise, Ann Marie and Ward Norman.
Maurine worked at KHOL-TV Channel 13 south of Kearney in the late 1950s. At Channel 13, she hosted a TV version of "The Women's Voice," a forerunner of many of today's women's TV talk shows. Maurine also worked for KGFW radio station in Kearney.
Maurine completed her master's degree at Kearney State College in 1961. In 1975, she earned her Ph.D. in speech and dramatic arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In September 1962 she began teaching part time in the speech and theater department at Kearney State College. Maurine became a full-time instructor in 1964. Dr. Eckloff was chair of the department of speech from 1978 to 1990. She was also the department director of graduate studies and director of internships. She taught at KSC, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney, for 44 years, and retired as a full professor in May 2006.
Maurine served as president of the KSC Education Association, chair of the General Studies Committee, president of the UNK Council of Department Chairs and campus coordinator for the Nebraska LEAD Program. She developed and directed the UNK Institute on Leadership from 1980 through 1990.
She was a popular instructor and was honored with the John Thurber Distinguished Teacher Award, Outstanding Faculty Member by UNK Order of the Omega, Award for Outstanding Achievement in Service to the Speech-Theatre Department presented by the UNK President, Outstanding Teacher Award from the UNK Student Senate, UNK Foundation Award for Teaching, and Outstanding Achievement Award by the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority at the University of Denver.
Maurine was active in the community, serving on the Board of Education for Minden Public Schools and was president of the board in the mid-1970s. In recent years, she served on the Kearney County Foundation Board, the Board of Nebraska Educational Television, the Board of the Museum of Nebraska Art and was active in the Cather Circle of the University of Nebraska Alumni Association from 2005 to 2008.
She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Minden for many years and in recent years was active with the Church Circle/United Methodist Women.
She particularly enjoyed helping in the effort to re-establish the Minden Opera House, which opened its doors again on Memorial Day weekend 2000.
Maurine moved from the farm north of Minden to Kearney in 2002.
Maurine enjoyed playing bridge and Scrabble with her friends and also was a member of the Kearney Wine Club. Maurine enjoyed traveling throughout her life and visited Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Egypt and many other countries. She also enjoyed gardening and roses. She kept an active interest in the family farm north of Minden.
In addition to her husband of 40 years, she was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Christine; brothers, Harlan Nelson and Dennis Nelson; and sister, Merna Rewerts.
Published in the Kearney Hub on 11/30/2010 |
