Mary Colette Kusek, 89

Preceded in death by husband Bernard T. Kusek

Survived by children Josephine Kusek, Bernard E. Kusek, Patricia Kusek, and Susan Royle (Mike)
grandchildren and great grandchildren

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Mary Colette (Bentlage) Kusek was born September 9, 1935, on the Bentlage family farm five miles south of Minden, Iowa. She had five older siblings: Leo, Betty Ann (died in infancy), Frances, Donald, and Gerald. In 1945, when Mary was ten years old, her brother, Donnie, drowned in the Little Silver Creek which ran by their farm. Even into her 80’s, Mary still remembered that tragic day and prayed for her lost brother. Mary was the baby of the family until her brother, Michael, was born the following year. Tears of sadness were indeed changed then into rejoicing.

Little Mary Colette was also called “Clappy” because she always laughed and clapped her hands when she was happy. She started out in country school, walking the 2.5 miles every day, sometimes cutting across the fields. A few years later, the country school closed, and Mary rode the bus to attend town school in Minden. Mary played basketball and twirled baton with the marching band. She also took piano lessons, learning to play on the same piano as her mother, which later, her daughters, would play.

Halfway through her eighth-grade year, her family moved from Minden to South Omaha, NE and settled on an acreage just south of 48th and Harrison. Mary then attended Ashland Park school on 48th and Q where she met her oldest friend, Joyce Johnson-Horvath. Mary and Joyce then continued on together at Omaha South High School where they graduated in 1954. In November of this year, Mary attended her 70th high school reunion held at Mary’s favorite restaurant, Johnny’s Cafe.

After high school, Mary worked for several years at Balbach’s Air Products. On the weekends, she and her friends would go dancing at Sokol Hall. It was there that Mary met her husband, Bernard T. Kusek. He promised her a date, but then ended up going back to the farm in Spalding, NE. Two years later, he showed up again at Sokol’s, and their love of dancing and each other rekindled.

Bernard and Mary were married on July 20, 1963, at Holy Ghost Catholic Church. Four children were born to this union: Josephine, Bernard E., Patricia, and Susan. Together Mary and Bernard purchased the Kusek family farm in Spalding, and for the next 30 years, they lived in Omaha and traveled weekends in the spring and summer to the farm.

On July 1, 1993, after 30 years of marriage, Bernard suddenly passed away. Nonetheless, Mary and her family continued to celebrate the wedding anniversary, often times again at Johnny’s Cafe. 2024 marked 31 years that Mary was a widow—one more year a widow than she was married to Bernard.

Mary was proudly German and loved with a fierceness that only a stubborn German could love. She loved her family, which expanded to grandchildren and now great grandchildren. She loved her music: playing piano herself and listening to her family play and sing such favorites as White Christmas and Stille Nacht. She still loved to dance even though her body was stooped and slow.

Most importantly though, Mary loved her Catholic faith. After Bernard’s passing, she began walking each morning to daily Mass at St. Bridget Catholic Church This continued even after double hip and double knee replacements. When she was no longer able to walk, she would go with her daughter, Jo, to either Our Lady of Guadalupe Church or to St. Mary Magdalene Church. Mary Mags was the church where her parents were married, and it is the church from where she will be buried. Mary died on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2025, having listened to one final mass via the iPad the hour before her death.

Mary prayed for so many people over the years, writing their names on the volumes of prayers she offered daily. In the days preceding her death, many of those same people came to pray by her side. One person in particular left exhorting the family, “Expect miracles!” Those miracles are just now beginning to unfold.