A Celebration of Life for Flora A. Lehmkuhl of Pender will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22 at the Pender Community Center in Pender.
Private burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery at Pender. There is no visitation
Arrangements are with Hasemann Funeral Home of Wayne.
She died Sunday, June 9, 2024 at the Pender Community Hospital following a battle with a very aggressive colon cancer.
The family requests donations be directed to the Pender Community Hospital Healthcare Foundation and Auxiliary, PO Box 100, 100 Hospital Drive, Pender, NE 68047.
Flora (Haberman) Lehmkuhl was born May 4, 1940 in York to Jacob and Theresa Haberman. Flora grew up in York. She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School, graduating in 1958. She was a star player on the school’s volleyball and tennis teams. In 1961, Flora married Marlowe Wall of Henderson,. The couple had six children, losing three of them who were born prematurely. The family moved to Pender in 1976 after Marlowe accepted a job with Penro Construction. The couple divorced in 1985. Flora married Paul Lehmkuhl in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 4, 1986.
Flora was a long-time resident of Pender and a veteran employee of the Pender Community Hospital, starting as a CNA in 1976 and retiring as the Director of Radiology in 2020. Flora was a lifelong advocate for rural health care and loved her job at the hospital. Under Flora’s leadership, the medical imaging department grew from just a simple X-ray machine to a host of services, including 3D mammography, CT scan, and MRI. She was also involved in the former annual Relay for Life fundraiser, which was organized by many of the hospital staff and leadership under the name Quacky Wacky Walkers. In addition, she featured her home in the Tour of Homes the group organized, which served as a fundraiser for Community Cares with the proceeds supporting the food pantry and backpack programs.
Flora loved her house on an acreage southeast of Pender and spent many years turning it into a showplace. She enjoyed gardening, baking (her cinnamon rolls are legendary), and spending time with her family and pets. Flora traveled extensively, her favorite vacation spots being California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Paris, France. She accompanied her daughter, Traci, on some of her work trips, including one to Kaui, Hawaii, where along with her best friend, Cheryll Watterson, were crowd favorites. She also loved traveling to neighboring states with Paul in search of new treasures to decorate her home.
Flora was kind, courageous and generous. She had the memory of an elephant and a tremendous sense of humor that made us laugh, even at the end of her life. She was a lifelong New York Yankees fan. She loved people and she loved helping people. Flora was really alive and was an amazing example of what it really means to live a full life. She will be so missed by so many.
Survivors include her husband Paul Lehmkuhl; sons, Chad Wall of Lincoln, Brett (Marnie) Wall of Dana Point, California, daughter Traci (Brian) Bruckner of Wayne; grandson Sam Bruckner of Boulder, Colorado, stepdaughter Linda (late Todd) Benjamin of Little Rock, Arkansas; stepsons Lowell (Dawn) Lehmkuhl of Pender and Jim (Jill) Lehmkuhl of Wakefield; two sisters Mary Clark of York and Victoria Haberman of Lincoln; nine step grandchildren; seven step great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by three children, Christopher, Barry and Terrie Wall, her parents, Jacob and Theresa Haberman, and her sister, Nancy Bedient of Kinston, North Carolina.
