Nila Jane Schwartz

Nila Jane (Hartman) Schwartz was born May 17, 1935, at Baker Hospital in LaCrosse, Kansas, to William (Bill) Hartman, Jr. and Amelia Mollie (Bender) Hartman. She died at Hodgeman County Health Center ISB/LTC on August 27, 2025, with Wayne and Kelly by her side. She died peacefully and pain-free for her beautiful journey to heaven with incredible support from HCHC ISB/LTC Staff and Hospice of the Prairie.

Nila's father William died in a farm accident near their Scott City farm home in October 1939 when she was 4-1/2 years old. Nila treasured memories of lying on the step outside their farmhouse at night with her dad and her brother Jim gazing at the stars. She also cherished a happy memory of riding on the combine with her dad. She attended school in Shallow Water for one year before moving to Scott City with her mother, brother, and Grandma Catherine (Nuss) Bender-Weber. Nila treasured a special memory of receiving a wagon from her mother for the last Christmas they spent together before Amelia died of an illness on December 27, 1942, when Nila was 7-1/2 years old.

After Amelia's death, Nila lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Pearl and Herman Beltz, on the family farm. She also remembered being the flower girl in their wedding and wearing a pretty blue dress, though she wasn't too keen on her responsibility but did not want another little niece to carry the flowers! Later, she moved to Ellis to live with her Aunt Pauline (Bender) Huck and Grandma Bender-Weber. She treasured the time with her grandmother and looked forward to helping her with household tasks and their conversations.

When Aunt Pauline could no longer help with Nila's care, Nila was taken to live with Aunt Anna (Filbert) and Uncle Ben Hartman on their farm northeast of Dighton. Nila had a bedroom in the basement, and her grandfather William Hartman, Sr., who also lived there, had a bedroom upstairs. She attended Iron Bridge Country School in Lane County for 3 rd, 4th, and 5 th grades and then town school in Dighton. One of her classmates shared that Nila was one of the nicest girls in school.

Nila lived on Aunt Anna and Uncle Ben's farm for 10 years. She recounted helping with chores in the house and listening to the radio with her family, especially "Fibber McGee and Molly," Christian programs, and "The Amos 'n Andy Show." She lived in Dighton during the week with her piano teacher's family, where she took lessons, and attended high school, coming home to the farm on weekends and holidays. Uncle Ben bought Nila a $100 Chevy to drive to school during her senior year at Dighton High School where she also graduated. She helped many people with babysitting, including her cousins Raymond and Evelyn Cartmill when their twins Harriet and Howard were born.

After graduation, Nila moved to Denver where she worked at Montgomery Wards and spent time with Jim, Pearl, and Herman who had moved to Colorado. She was grateful for the time with them because she did not have contact with her siblings for years while living in Lane County. She later moved back to Dighton to be closer to her extended family when her Aunt Anna died.

Nila worked as a waitress in a café/coffee shop in Dighton where she met Army veteran and Lane County native Richard Schwartz. They began dating, and he proposed to her at his parents' farmhouse southeast of Dighton where he took Nila to meet his parents, Victor and Alice. Nila said, "Yes!" His parents were very happy their only son had chosen a bride who also had German heritage.

Richard and Nila married on August 21, 1955, at the Dighton United Methodist Church. They moved into the family farmhouse southwest of Alamota to begin their life together. Victor and Alice moved to Dighton and continued to help Richard and Nila run the farm with livestock, chickens, and crops.

To this marriage were born three sons: Lyle Kent in 1956, Wayne Lynn in 1959, and Brent Alan in 1965. Nila enjoyed being mother to her three boys and helping Richard manage their farm and home. She attended the German Congressional Church in the country near their Alamota farm home and later the Congregational Lutheran and Dighton United Methodist Churches. She taught Sunday School, played the organ for church services, and helped with various church functions, including meals for funerals and church dinners with the United Methodist Church Women. One of her special memories was hearing Richard and her boys sing at church while she played the organ for church services and for Christmas.

Nila enjoyed gardening, canning, cooking, sewing, crafts, her sons' school activities, church services and events, and planning for family gatherings, including the Filbert and Schwartz Family Reunions. She was an avid reader, a fan of old movies, playing piano and organ, traveling to Colorado with her family to visit relatives, Adventures with Grandma Alice, taking care of her cats, sharing recipes, volunteering at the thrift store in Dighton, preparing flowers for Memorial Day, and visiting with family and friends on the phone.

In 2013 she became a breast cancer survivor, and she moved to Jetmore full-time in early 2016, after recuperating from a vehicle accident, to live closer to Wayne and Kelly where she had an apartment. She eventually moved to the Hodgeman County Health Center ISB/LTC in 2017. Nila was very active at ISB/LTC through the years where she enjoyed Bible Study, Bingo, crafts, cooking, trivia, dominoes, vocabulary games, gardening, newspaper reading, hymn singing, Sunday church services, resident meetings, elementary school reading activities, listening to audio books, family meals, holiday resident parties, and conversations with many residents and ISB staff, whom she always considered her friends. She was very grateful to everyone who helped her though she determinedly maintained her independence. She was lovingly known for trying to fix things in her room, helping other residents, watering plants, and not wanting to bother the staff (or family) if she could do something herself. Through the west windows of her room, she enjoyed watching the birds eat and entertain at her bird feeders.

She loved to laugh and tell memorable family stories when Wayne and Kelly came to visit. She could recount family history in colorful detail, and she surprised Wayne, more often than not, with anecdotes he did not know. Hearing about her life after her parents' deaths when she was just a little girl was heartbreaking, and the experience had a profound impact on her while she raised her own family and later cared for Victor, Richard, and Alice. She accepted life's challenges with a deep Christian faith, persevered with her "can do" attitude, and shared her love with everyone who had the opportunity to know her. She cherished Family and Home while humbly accepting God's plan for her life, never once taking it for granted.

Nila was knowledgeable of current events, farming, history, the Bible, plants, gardening, animals, health, recipes, books, and weather facts -- she could easily engage in wonderful discussions about numerous topics with anyone. She spent countless hours writing and sending cards to family members and friends for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, illness, and other life events. Even when macular degeneration took her eyesight, she still insisted on writing messages in her cards. Crafting and creating one-of-a-kind gifts and gift wrappings made her happy, and she truly enjoyed preparing for the ISB/LTC craft bazaars. Nila's love for others was boundless--her kind heart and thoughtfulness endeared her to everyone who knew her.

Nila was preceded in death by her parents, husband Richard, sons Brent and Lyle, daughter-in-law Vicki Schwartz, sister Pearl and husband Herman Beltz, brother Jim and wife Esther Hartman, her infant sister Wilda and infant brother, Richard's parents Victor and Alice Schwartz, and Aunt Anna and Uncle Ben Hartman who raised her.

She is survived by son Wayne Schwartz and wife Kelly of Jetmore, Kansas; daughters-in-law Linda Allaman of Sharon Springs and Tammy Schwartz of Lufkin, Texas; grandchildren Shannon, Audrey, Jessica, Tom, Chelsea, Britney, Danielle, Conan, Charity, Steven, Shabree, Wayne, and Cody; great grandchildren Britin, Adalynn, Ellie, Gabriel, Cecilia, Maverick, Emric, and Nessa; Nieces Sharen (Beltz) Dietz and Sharlene (Hartman) Wiedenhoff, Cousin Eugene Schwartz, and many relatives from the Hartman, Cartmill, Filbert, and Schwartz Families.

Nila has chosen cremation. Her Life Celebration and Burial will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at 11:00 AM at the Dighton Cemetery. Please wear casual, colorful attire to honor her love of gardening.

Memorials in Nila's honor may be given to the Dighton United Methodist Church Women, Hodgeman County Health Center ISB/LTC, or Hospice of the Prairie, in care of Beckwith Mortuary, P.O. Box 663, Jetmore, Kanss 67854

Nila's family extends much gratitude to all of the HCHC ISB/LTC staff, HOCO teachers and students, local church youth groups, Bible Study and Church Leaders, Dighton United Methodist Women, and everyone who sent cards and letters, gave gifts and created artwork, volunteered time and talent, delivered treats, sang/serenaded, facilitated ISB/LTC church services, and visited Nila through the years. You blessed her days with your many acts of kindness, and she was always thankful.