Mary Helen Whipple-Hall

MARY HELEN WHIPPLE-HALL 1928 - 2016 Mary Helen (Kopachesski) Whipple-Hall age 87 of Bellevue, NE passed away on Thursday, December 22, 2016 at the Omaha Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Omaha, NE. She was born on December 28, 1928 to John Bernard and Mary Ann (Chiehoin) Kopachesski in Omaha, NE. Mary was raised and schooled in Sheelytown, the Polish part of Omaha. She began working in the café at Union Pacific Railroad Station in Omaha and later she worked in the dinner at Kresge Five and Dime in Omaha. Her mother passed away in 1945 and her father in 1946, and she moved to Gothenburg, NE to live with her sister Helen. She worked at her sister's grocery store in Gothenburg, where Mary met Donald Melvin Whipple. Donald worked at the filling station across the street from the grocery store and he would come the grocery store to buy groceries. Mary and Don courted and were later married on May 29, 1948 in Gothenburg. Donald began farming and they moved to Uncle L.V.'s farm in Callaway, NE. Mary became a farm wife and she worked alongside her husband Don, with all farm chores. Mary and Don's daughter Sharyn was born in 1948 and their son Bart in 1952. Mary got breast cancer in 1952 and survived and then again in 1954, when she lost both of her breasts to cancer. Don gave up farming, due to the drought and began working construction for Peter Kiewit and Associates building Interstate 80, beginning in Central City, NE and ending up in Kimble, NE in 1955. Where Mary, got Hepatitis from bad water due to the fact that they were staying at a closed down outside theatre. The children went to live with Aunt Joyce and Grandma Whipple. When Interstate 80 was finished, they moved back to south Omaha. In 1957, a tornado hit and demolished their mobile home. Mary and Don purchased a new mobile home and moved to Diters' Morning Star Trailer Park in Plattsmouth, NE. Later they moved to 3rd avenue, where Donald bought property across the street from the Plattsmouth Public Swimming Pool. Don hand-built their house and they move in at Christmas time in 1962. The Whipple's opened up a grocery store that they called East Side Market in Plattsmouth, which was the first market to be open on Sundays in Cass County, NE and it was also the first to sell beer in a grocery store on Sundays. Then Mary and Don decided to travel in their pickup truck with a camper throughout the southwest United States and California, then Florida where they decided to live. Don worked at Disney World for two or three years and they bought a double wide mobile home in Sebastian, FL where they lived for several years. Don took over Taggert Orange Grove and Mary sold fruit at a roadside fruit stand. In 1986, they moved back to Plattsmouth where they lived on Patterson Avenue, then bought a home on Sixth Street; then Don passed away in 1989. Then Mary moved to Bellewood Court in Bellevue, NE, where she later became the caretaker in 2000. She met Paul Evert Hall and they were later married in 2000 in Bellevue. Three years later, Paul succumbed to cancer. She and Paul's daughter, Paulette became very close, just as if they were a natural mother and daughter. Mary is survived by her daughter: Sharyn Randall of Arcadia, FL; son: Bart Whipple of Manzanillo, Costa Rica; step-daughter: Paulette Irwin and husband Roger of Bellevue, NE; two grandchildren: Stephanie Womack of Arcadia, FL; Beau Whipple and wife Kara of Plattsmouth, NE; six great grandchildren: Jackson Whipple, Porter Whipple, Emerson Whipple, Brian Coles, Skyler Womack, Gavin Womack; three step grandchildren: Christina "Chris" Portenier and husband Lonnie, Joni Fransiscus and husband Ed, Bryan Irwin and wife Amy; and many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents: John and Mary Kopachesski, husbands: Don Whipple and Paul Hall, three sisters: Bernice Craig, Helen Hastings, and Lucille Brisby, and her brother: John Kopachesski. A Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 A.M., Thursday, December 29, 2016 at Roby Funeral Home in Plattsmouth with Pastor Michael McGregor officiating. The Pallbearers will be Bart Whipple, Beau Whipple, Victor Chudy, Juan Jacabo, Roger Schmidt, and Steve Wilson. The Honorary Pallbearers are Roy Edmonds and Dean Jenneret. Her Final Resting Place will be next to her husband Don at Oak Hill Cemetery in Plattsmouth. The family suggests Memorials to the American Cancer Society.