Dr. Stanley Francis Nabity

1925 - 2021

Dr. Stanley Francis Nabity, 95, of Grand Island, passed away Saturday, March 6, 2021.
A private family Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, preceded by a rosary at 10 a.m., at St. Mary's Cathedral in Grand Island. The Rev. James Golka will officiate. A burial service will be at Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Family and friends are encouraged to participate by live streaming at www.stmarysgi.com.
Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home is assisting the family.
A public walk-through visitation is planned for 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. The family will not be present. Due to COVID considerations, the wearing of masks is required. A video tribute will appear on the funeral home website and you are encouraged to share your thoughts and memories with the family through the on-line guestbook.
Stan was born Nov. 22, 1925, the third of 11 children, and was raised on a farm near Chapman. He cherished farm life, worked hard and enjoyed animal husbandry. He particularly loved horses, and after surviving a severe case of pneumonia as an 11-year-old, his father bought him a Shetland pony, whom he named Betsy and loved dearly. She became ill with equine encephalitis, for which there was no treatment. He attended unceasingly to her for three days. He credited his own hospitalizations and Betsy's illness in his early life with directing him to a career in medicine. Even so, his heart and soul remained with the farm throughout his life. And he instilled this love of the country life in his children and grandchildren.
He completed grade school in a one-room country schoolhouse.
Upon graduation from Chapman High School in 1943 during World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He enrolled at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln on a full academic scholarship but attended only one semester before the Navy sent him to Villanova University, just outside Philadelphia, for pre-med studies, which he completed in just two years.
After working as a hospital corpsman at Philadelphia Naval Hospital for three months, he entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in October 1945. He was released from active duty in January 1946 and graduated from medical school in June 1949 at the age of only 23.
Stan married a beautiful nurse, Helen Martha Matas, on June 6, 1949, in Hazleton, Pa., her hometown. He returned to active duty in the Navy and served a one-year internship at Creighton Memorial/Saint Joseph Hospital in Omaha. Next he was stationed at the medical infirmary at Treasure Island Naval Base in Oakland, Calif., for a year then onto the Korean War area as medical officer on the U.S.S. Gunston Hall for one year. He was released from the Navy in San Diego in June 1952.
Dr. Nabity began his medical practice at the Grand Island Clinic on Aug. 1, 1952, as a family practitioner. As such, he delivered thousands of babies, performed countless tonsillectomies and appendectomies, set broken bones, lanced and stitched many injuries. He made endless house calls even out of town, teaching his own children to drive in the process, and was often called to the emergency room before the ER was staffed with doctors. He was known for his intuitive diagnostic skills long before modern imaging technology. He retired from medical practice in January 1994.
He was a member of the Nebraska Medical Society, American Medical Association and American Family Practice Association. He held several positions on staff at St. Francis Medical Center, including teaching at the nursing school, and at the former Lutheran Hospital in Grand Island. He was a delegate from Hall County to the Nebraska Medical Association for several years (1973-1990) during which he served as a member and president of the Board of Councilors and one year as member of the Board of NMA (1989-1990). He also served as clinical associate in the Department of Family Practice for the University of Nebraska Medical Center for 10 years (1981-1992).
In December 2013, he was awarded the St. Francis Medical Center's Physician Lifetime Achievement Award (as only the second physician so honored). When the award was bestowed, it was noted that, in addition to his leadership roles within the medical community, he also served as teacher and mentor for many younger physicians. He was known for demonstrating compassion and care through his bedside manner and for living the award's core values of reverence, integrity and excellence in providing medical care.
He was a member of Knights of Columbus and Veterans of Foreign Wars and a former member of Riverside Golf Club, Liederkranz, Grand Island Saddle Club and the St. Francis Medical Foundation.
For nearly 70 years, he was a devout member of Saint Mary's Cathedral Parish. In September 2013, Stan and Helen moved to the Good Samaritan Society-Grand Island Village, where they were beloved and well cared for. Helen died in December 2016, but Stan continued to enjoy a full and active life at Good Samaritan.
Over his lifetime, his hobbies included hunting, fishing, bowling, golf, polka, bridge, reading, gardening, tinkering and even bingo. Always a fierce competitor, he found great pleasure in winning at any activity.
He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather; and brother, uncle, friend and confidant. Family vacations to lakes, mountains and the East Coast were annual and cherished times spent with his family, especially since his dedication to his work called him away from home at all hours of the day and night.
He was fun-loving, brilliant, extremely patient, but not the best joke teller or singer, although he tried anyway. He taught by example and was always concerned about the well-being of his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, believing in their abilities to figure things out on their own and applauding their many achievements. His gracious and gentle servant spirit will live on in our hearts and souls. He was truly one of the greatest men we will ever know.
An expression of love and gratitude was recently summed up in a letter from his grandson, Dr. Tom Nabity Jr.: "I hope you realize how instrumental you have been as a role model for me both as a young boy and now a grown man. Your humility, kindness and strength are attributes I've always admired and tried to emulate. You've been a calm voice of reason and provided wise motivational words, likely unknowingly, at many critical times in my life. You are loved and appreciated more than you'll ever know and I can't thank you enough."
Stan was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Wilhelmina (Trubl) Nabity; his parents-in-law, Thomas and Anna (Kaschak) Matas;, his wife, Helen; five brothers, Ernest, infant George, Raymond, Alfred and Richard; one sister, Angela Nabity; one brother-in-law, James Dibbern; two sisters-in-law, Peggy and Verla Nabity, and an infant great-grandson, Grayson Aten; as well as Helen's two sisters and their husbands, Thomas and Deanie Wanek and Joseph and Anne O'Lear.
He is survived by one son, Dr. Thomas (Jeanne) Nabity of Grand Island, and five daughters, Jacalyn (George) Ayoub and Karen (David) Olson of Grand Island, Denice (Gregg) Aten of Lincoln, Dr. Mary Ellen Gilles of Tucson, Ariz., Kristi (Mark) Frei of Omaha and their families, which include 17 grandchildren, Rebecca (Scott) Olson, Dr. Thomas Nabity Jr., Jeffrey Nabity, Alison (Bryan) Rash, Jonathan (Laura) Aten, Dr. Alex (Marcela) Aten, Grant, Helen and Gregory Gilles, Maggie Frei, Sam (Annie) Frei, Will (Haille) Frei, Max Ayoub, Gatkek and Dakota Olson, Kelly (Jim) Heavican and Tari (Casey) Hess; 16 great- grandchildren, Genevieve, Hank and Allison Nabity, Boden and Aldyn Olson, Flynn and Zuzu Rash, Gavin, Myles and Landon Aten, Kyran, Aliya and Baylor Aten, Jacob and Owen Heavican, Kendall Hess; two brothers, Joseph of Omaha and Virgil of Lincoln; two sisters, Virginia Nabity of Cortez, Colo., and Martha Dibbern of Grand Island; three sisters-in-law, Annette and Beata Nabity of Grand Island and Barbara Nabity of Omaha, and numerous nieces and nephews.
His family is so grateful for the care he received at Good Samaritan Society, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the medical community of Grand Island, and St. Croix Hospice. We appreciate every gesture of kindness and compassion shown to him and our entire family. We also want to thank all of you who wished him a Happy 95th birthday with cards and letters of gratitude. He remarked that it was his best birthday ever!
Memorials may be directed to St. Mary's Cathedral, CHI Health St. Francis Medical Foundation, Good Samaritan Society-Grand Island Village, or the donor's choice.