Adele Elizabeth Richard, 84, of Benkelman, Nebraska, died June 9, 2017 in
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Adele was born on February 18, 1933 to Joe and Fannie Barenberg on a farm
eleven miles southeast of Atwood, Kansas. She shares her birthday with a
twin sister, Esther Caroline who died when the twins were eighteen days old due
to pneumonia.
The family lived south of Atwood until Adele was five years old. They
then moved to a farm in the South Fork area. In 1941 they moved to the old
Hines Ranch, five miles southeast of Benkelman which is still owned by her
nephew, Steve Barenberg.
Adele attended country school at District 31 through the eighth grade.
She attended Benkelman High School and graduated in 1950. After graduation
Adele attended McCook Community College and taught District 31 the 1950-1951
school term. She went back to school that summer and then taught at the
same school during the 1951-1952 term.
Adele met Lawrence Richard when he returned home from service in the Korean
War and they were married at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Benkelman, Nebraska
on July 12, 1954. They lived for a short time north of St. Francis, Kansas and
moved to Benkelman where they lived the rest of their lives. They were
blessed with three children Dixie, Kent and Dana Jo.
On August 18, 1952, Adele was employed by the Dundy County Production and
Marketing Association (PMA) Office, later known as the Dundy County
Agricultural and Soil Conservation Service (ASCS) office. She worked there
for over 32 years and retired in February, 1988. She enjoyed working with
the farmers in the local area and all her co-workers.
Adele spent many hours with Lawrence, friends and family fishing at Enders,
Rock Creek and Swanson Lakes. Her family was always her number one
priority and her community and church were close behind. She was active in
the Saint Joseph Altar Society, American Legion Auxiliary, Boy Scouts, 4-H, the
Extension "Coffee Cuppers" and was humbled and honored to receive the
Benkelman "Good Guy" Award.
Adele was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence; her twin sister,
Esther; her parents, her brother Walter Barenberg; her sister, Josephine
Preston; her daughter, Dana Webster and her son, Shane Webster.
Adele is survived by her daughter Dixie Cobb of Lincoln, Nebraska and her
husband Wes; her son, Kent Richard of Lincoln, Nebraska and his wife Patty and
their children, Jessica, Deidre, Justin and Derek Richard; grandson, Seth Cobb
of Lincoln, Nebraska and his wife Marcelina and their two children Josiah
Lawrence and Aubrey Ann Adele Cobb, granddaugher, Sheila Long of Kearney,
Nebraska and her husband Kade, and their two children Micajah and Keller Long;
son-in-law, Larry Webster of Lakeside, Nebraska; her brother-in-law, Jerry
Preston of Benkelman, Nebraska, her sister-in-law, Sharon Barenberg of
Benkelman, Nebraska, her brother-in-law, Leonard Richard of St. Francis, Kansas
and his wife Joann, her sister-in-law, Phyllis Whitmore of St. Francis, Kansas
and her husband Don.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in
Benkelman on June 19, 2017, at 10:30. Interment will follow at the
Benkelman Cemetery. Rosary will be Sunday evening, June 18, 2017, at 7:30,
also at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Memorials to be determined by the family including the Saint Joseph Catholic
Church in Benkelman, Nebraska.
