Madonna Marie Janecek Marman, 78, a former local resident and 1957 graduate of North Platte High School, died of cancer Jan. 14, 2018, in Palm Desert, California.

Madonna was the daughter of Arnold Janecek, a rancher and auctioneer who died in 1943, and Beulah Sellers Janecek Winkler. Her stepfather was Raymond A. Winkler, who owned Blue Flame Propane in North Platte.

After leaving North Platte, Madonna attended Midland College in Fremont and the Lincoln General Hospital School of Nursing. She later completed nursing studies at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. She was well known in her community as a pediatrics nurse and a supporter of local charity events with her husband, who was on faculty at the College of the Desert.

Madonna was preceded in death by her grandparents, Edward and Bertha Janecek of North Platte and Byron and Bertha Sellers of Wellfleet; uncles, Victor, Chester, Milo, Joseph and Edward Janecek and Byron D. Sellers; and aunts, Bertha, Ellen and Stella Janecek.

Survivors include her husband, John Marman of Palm Desert; daughters, Suzi (John) Hanks of Houston, Texas, and Danielle (John) Scardino of Palm Desert; son, John Theodore (Donna) Marman of Capistrano Beach, California; grandson, John Knox Marman, also of Capistrano Beach; sisters, Jacqueline (Edward) Knight of Alexandria, Virginia, and Angela (Ben) Johnson of Arvada, Colorado; and three nephews and two nieces. Local survivors include her aunts, Marie Janecek Reichert and Winnie Janecek of North Platte and Bonnie Sellers of Wellfleet.

Memorials are suggested to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens of Palm Desert.

Services were in Palm Desert, and a family commemoration will be at a later date.

Originally published in The North Platte Telegraph on February 11, 2018.