Mass of Christian burial will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 10 at St. Mary's Cathedral. The celebrant will be the Revs. David L. Rykwalder with Jorge Canela and Paul J. Colling concelebrating. Interment will be in Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9 at Curran Funeral Chapel with a vigil service at 7 p.m. You are encouraged to sign Rita's guestbook at www.curranfuneralchapel.com under her obituary. Curran Funeral Chapel is assisting the family.

Rita was born in St. Stephen's on July 26, 1929, the daughter of William and Margaret (Hoelting) Brockman. She was raised on the family farm and attended St. Stephen's Elementary school, then graduated from Lawrence High School in Lawrence.

She married George Venhaus in 1948, then lived in Omaha where George went to electronics school and became a TV repairman. In 1953, they moved to Grand Island where they raised their family of 5 children. In 1979, George passed away. Rita took classes at Central Community College to improve her secretarial skills. She worked various offices and stores in Grand Island and also became known for her sewing and alteration skills, especially at Curry-Sipple Mensware. In the late 80s, she became the secretary for St. Mary's Cathedral in Grand Island. She retired in 1999. Her years at St. Mary's were very joyful and rewarding. She was able to live independently until 2020, when she moved into Emerald Nursing and Rehabilitation at Lakeview.

Rita was a member of St. Mary's Cathedral for 70 years. She was part of the last quilting group that met at the church. Because of her vision problems, she had to give up some of her favorite things: sewing, quilting, writing letters, and completing crossword puzzles. She enjoyed visits from her family and friends and loved hearing stories about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her family could still get her to play a song or two on the piano. They also enjoyed hearing stories of her life on the farm, before the days of electricity, running water, and automobiles.

Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Don Venhaus of Sunnyvale, Calif., Marian (Bill) Boehl of Ypsilanti, Mich., Barbara (Dave) Beck of Grand Island, William (Crystal) Venhaus of Van Meter, Iowa, and Thomas (Dawn) Venhaus of Willow Springs, Ill.; 20 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, George; parents, William and Margaret; sisters, Collette Pohlmeier and Mary Agnes Bruckner; brother, Louis Brockman, who passed away three days before her death.

Memorials to St. Mary's Cathedral or Grand Island Central Catholic.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Grand Island Independent on Mar. 8, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Rita Venhaus

Sponsored by Curran Funeral Chapel - Grand Island.

4 Entries

Lynn Hann Ziola

March 13, 2023

I remember the Venhaus family, I lived on the same block when I was growing up. Very nice family.
Prayers to all

Deb Rouse(Slobaszewski)

March 10, 2023

I remember as a kid we lived across the street from Rita and we used to skate board(homemade ones, not the fancy ones like today) on her sidewalk because she had a paved sidewalk. Nice lady

Bonnie Brown

March 9, 2023

My thoughts and prayers are with you. I knew your mom through my sister Jan Randolph many years ago. My sympathy goes out to you all .

Bob and Dianne (Davis) Ziller

March 8, 2023

We are so very sorry for your loss. She was always so sweet and will be missed. As life goes on we're praying that joyful memories and love fill your hearts and minds. She is up there happy and still watching and loving each of you.