In Memoriam

In Memoriam

We honor the amazing lives of our Midland alumni, faculty and staff. To notify us of a death of a classmate or family member, please email alumni@midlandu.edu or call 402-941-6055.

Memorial Gifts

Gifts made in memory of a family member, teacher, student or friend are generous and thoughtful ways to remember a person's life and accomplishments. When making a gift in memory of someone, please send your gift with a note specifying the honoree's name and address and/or contact information so we can send a notification that a gift has been made. 

Please send memorial gifts to: Midland University, ATTN: Institutional Advancement, 900 N. Clarkson, Fremont, NE 68025, or make a gift online.

Anna Marie "Ree" Ritzen

Anna Marie "Ree" Ritzen

Monday, March 28, 2022
Anna Marie "Ree" Hoesly Ritzen, 100, of Estes Park died on Saturday, March 26, 2022, in Estes Park. A memorial and inurnment service will be 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at First Lutheran Church in Kearney. Ree was born April 15, 1921, in Platte County to Peter and Barbara (Elmer) Hoesly. She...

Alice L. (Rahlfs) Christensen

Alice L. (Rahlfs) Christensen

Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Alice L. (Rahlfs) Christensen, age 94, died at Methodist Fremont Health in Fremont on March 12, 2022. Alice was born July 21, 1927, in Arlington, Nebraska, to William and Inger Rahlfs. She lived her entire life in Nebraska. She graduated from Fremont High School in 1945, and then continued her...

Joseph Leonard Skoglund

Joseph Leonard Skoglund

Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Joseph Leonard Skoglund passed away in his Corona del Mar home surrounded by his loving family. Joe was a loving father, husband, grandfather and friend. Born in Fremont, Nebraska, to Leonard and Marie Skoglund he graduated from Fremont High School and attended Midland College where he was a star...

John Verne McKenzie

John Verne McKenzie

Tuesday, March 22, 2022
John Verne McKenzie was born on Dec. 24, 1928, on a small farm in Fremont, Nebraska. His father, who his mother later said was out working all day in the rain, had passed away the previous May from pneumonia, and Verne was raised by his single mother, Maggie, and his older sister, Vera. Later a...

Richard A. Berger '76

Richard A. Berger '76

Monday, March 21, 2022
Rochester, MN- Dr. Richard Allen Berger, beloved husband, father, and brother and internationally renowned surgeon with the Mayo Clinic passed away suddenly and unexpectedly of natural causes on March 1, 2022, at the age of 67. Richard (or Dick, as he preferred to be called by family and friends)...

Dudley Syre '61

Dudley Syre '61

Monday, March 14, 2022
Dudley Augustus Syre', age 82, passed away at his home on February 22, 2022. He was born August 24, 1939 to Richard and Margaret (Jones) Syre' in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Midland University in 1961. On August 24, 1962 Dudley married Mary Picton. He then entered the Navy...

John Verne McKenzie

John Verne McKenzie

Monday, March 14, 2022
Verne passed away on March 6, 2022 at the age of 93. John Verne McKenzie was born on December 24, 1928 on a small farm in Fremont, NE. His father, who his mother later said was out working all day in the rain, had passed away the previous May from pneumonia, and Verne was raised by his single...

John Maisch '92

John Maisch '92

Friday, March 11, 2022
John A. Maisch was born in Duluth, MN on April 16, 1970, to Gorden and Gloria Maisch and passed away unexpectedly on March 3, 2022, in Edmond, OK. John is survived by his wife, Julia, son, Jacoby, sisters, Ann and Lori Maisch, aunts, uncles, in-laws, nieces, nephews, his students, and many friends...

Phillip Bade '73

Phillip Bade '73

Friday, March 11, 2022
Phillip Clarence Bade, born to Carl and Rebecca (Lahmann) Bade on July 13, 1951, in Fremont, Nebraska. Phil passed away March 6, 2022, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Phil lived in Fremont, where he graduated high school in 1967 and continued to live here until he graduated from Midland College. He worked...

Larry D. Layden

Larry D. Layden

Monday, March 7, 2022
Larry D. Layden, Lincoln, NE, born October 13, 1943 in Tecumseh, NE to James C. & Dorothy (Wilkinson) Layden. Graduated Valedictorian, Table Rock H.S., 1961. Larry passed away February 28, 2022 in Lincoln. Married to Maria (Lucha) Rios, May 20, 1974 in Lincoln, the love of his life. Attended...

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