Gloria Bartak

Gloria Marie Bartak, age 87, died Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at Jennie M. Melham Memorial Medical Center, Broken Bow. Funeral services will be held on Saturday October 15, 2011 at 2:00 PM at the Evangelical Free Church in Broken Bow. Burial will be in the Cliff Table Cemetery west of Merna. Memorials have been established to the American Caner Society or the Merna FFA Chapter. Visitation will be held on Friday October 14, 2011, 8 AM to 8 PM with the family greeting friends 6 PM to 7 PM at Govier Bros. Mortuary. Gloria was born May 2, 1924 in Omaha, NE to Olaf and Clara (Tietz) Pedersen. She graduated from Gibbon High School in 1942 and started working at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Bomb loading factory in Grand Island, Nebraska. From 1943 to 1945 she worked at the B-17 and (later) B-29 modification center as an electrician at the Denver, Colorado Airport. After World War II ended, Gloria went to Kearney State Teacher’s College, earning a two-year certificate. Her first teaching job was in a rural school between Gibbon and Ravenna. She then taught elementary grades at Broken Bow schools. Gloria married Clyde Joseph Bartak on February 3, 1952. They farmed on Cliff Table, west of Merna, until retiring to Broken Bow in 1989. She was very active in her local extension club. She always had a large garden and was known for her beautiful roses. After retiring, they became the Bluebird Coordinators for Custer County. She is survived by her five children: Elizabeth Ruth (Beth) and Bruce Ebmeier of Sun Lakes, Arizona; Beverly Kay and Steve Trew of Anselmo; Cynthia Jane (Cindy) Fisher and Bob of Moorefield; Joel Alan and Becky Bartak of Anselmo; and Bruce Lee and Julie Bartak of Anselmo. She will be missed by her 12 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Other survivors are brothers Lenard and Phyllis Pedersen of Kearney; John and LaVonne Pedersen of Newnan, Georgia; and Donald and Gerry Pedersen of Funk. She was preceded in death by her husband Clyde and brothers Dayton and Dick.