Geraldine "Gerry" Kuhn

1934 - 2023

ELKHORN - Geraldine "Gerry" Kuhn, 88, of Elkhorn, formerly of Clarks and Grand Island, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Clarks. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery in Clarks.
Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the church, with the Rosary at 10:30. In l ieu of flowers, Gerry's wishes were that you make donations to a charity of your choosing.
Bethany Funeral Home of La Vista is assisting the family; www.bethanyfuneralhome.com
Gerry was born June 5, 1934, in Osmond, the fifth of 10 children born to Leo and Mary (Loebe) Jilg.
Gerry's mother passed away in 1948 and her father fell ill unable to care for the children. Her oldest sister, Lucetta "Lucy," and her husband, Ken, raised the siblings to keep them together as a family. Gerry graduated from Clarks High School as the valedictorian of the class of 1952. She was an avid reader and had a passion for learning. During her high school years, she worked as a "soda jerk" at Copelands Drug Store. Upon graduation, she moved to Omaha to take a secretarial job and lived with her sister Rose.
After a year, she returned to Clarks, and on May 4, 1955, she married her high school sweetheart and classmate, Larry D. Kuhn, of Clarks. Five children were born to this marriage.
She spent the early years of the marriage raising her five children as well as working for Douglas Store and the Clarks Telephone Co. From 1968 to 1977 she worked as the secretary for Clarks Public School. After leaving the school secretarial job, she and her husband opened Kuhn Insurance on Main Street in Clarks. She became a licensed agent and they built the business together. She continued to sell insurance after Larry's passing and was a member of the Grand Island Life Underwriters for 25 years.
Gerry's first passion was children, raising her own as well as mentoring, encouraging and supporting others. She was a participant in the Teammates program with Grand Island Public Schools. She was always providing encouragement in the form of handwritten notes, but her greatest gift was fulfilling prayer requests from anyone in need. Her grandchildren will attest to the fact that, were it not for Grandma's prayers, they would not have fared as well on their tests.
She was active in her Catholic faith and participated on many levels at St. Peters Church in Clarks, St. Leo's and Blessed Sacrament in Grand Island, and New Cassel in Omaha. She was a Eucharistic Minister and a Steven's Minister at St. Leo's. She was also a member of The Catholic Daughters of America.
Gerry also spent time providing "pet therapy" by visiting area nursing home residents with her dog, Happy. She enjoyed Cardinals baseball and Husker volleyball, baseball and football.
Gerry held a strong belief in 12-step programs and was active in Al-anon for more than 45 years. She freely shared her passion to educate and promote the treatment and prevention of alcoholism and mental illness. She leaves many cherished and long-lasting friends who shared her mission to help others with addictions of all kinds.
Gerry moved to Omaha in 2015 to be closer to family. She spent the last years of her life as a resident of Brookestone Meadows LTC where she enjoyed the frequent assistance and visits from her daughters who are both nurses, her family, the Brookestone Meadows staff, and St. Croix Hospice team.
Gerry is survived by her three sons and daughters-in-law, Russel and Pat Kuhn of Columbus, Rex and Deb Kuhn of Roca, and Ryan and Jackie Kuhn of Alexandria, Va.; two daughters and a son-in-law, Ann and Scott Brunzell and Mary Brown, all of Omaha; 15 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, with three on the way, and one great-great-grandchild; three sisters, Rose Irvine of St. Paul, Dorothy Sheets of Centennial, Colo., and Carol Cortinas of Omaha; a brother and sister-in-law, Ralph and Brenda Jilg of Silver Creek; and two sisters-in-law, Joyce Kuhn of Central City, and Mary Kuhn of Hanover, Mass.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Leo and Mary Jilg, her husband, Larry D. Kuhn; two brothers, Leo "Junior" Jilg and Frances "Fritz" Jilg; three sisters and two brothers-in-law, Lucetta and Ken Adkisson, Mary Helen and Roy Wyman, and Eleanor Bender; a daughter-in-law, Mary Sue Kuhn; and five brothers-in-law, John Cortinas, Byron Sheets, Bill Irvine, William "Bill" Kuhn and Tom Kuhn.