Marital status: Single (divorced)

Children (if applicable): Marcy, Kelly, Andrew

Address: 12227 Orchard AVE, Omaha, NE 68137 & 590 E Pratt, Craig, NE 68019

E-mail address: kmink623@aol.com Phone: 402-936-0305

Career notes: Right now I am working in merchant fraud for PayPal.

Highlights of your life: Highlights, other than my children, are the 12 years that I spent in Phoenix, AZ. I totally loved it there. I worked as a fraud investigator for Discover Card, traveled a lot, and had some very dear friends. I moved back to Omaha, NE in late April, 2007 to help care for my Mother. Marcy and her husband live near Omaha, and Kelly and Andrew are in Phoenix.

Memories from your school days: Most of my memories are slightly out of the ordinary. For one thing, I remember the sticky peanut butter in those huge bowls in the lunch room. And, I remember a kid named David Broom in about the 4th grade or so, putting thumbtacks in where he had missing teeth (ugh!) and, a dust storm that blew in a lot of red dirt and the class all lined up along the window to watch it. And, I remember playing "Civil War" on the playground until the Principal thought it was a bad idea.

Later, in high school, it was being with my friends. Remember, Vic's, in Mason City, with the pizza that dripped grease? Also going to the Drive in and skating. I was more of a social person than a scholar, or, maybe just a slow bloomer, but I have some fond memories of going to high school, and all of my schooling, at Clear Lake. Plus that, I feel that I got a very good education.

Aside from attending Kindergarten through grade twelve together, Kay and I went through Mason City Junior College together (both years). Diane Hanna Christnagel and I rode with Kay (since she had the car), our "fun" coming home in the afternoon after class in her Nash Rambler was to come in on the old highway (106) - remember Mason City Junior College was down by Roosevelt School and sat on the same ground that the MC Schools Administration Building sits on now. Now since NIACC (North Iowa Area Community College) is out past the East edge of Mason City, I refer to the old JC as the University of Southern Mason City!!!!!

Anyway, coming into Clear Lake on the old highway (106), we'd turn at Baker's Corner and gun the engine and coast to the stop sign to see how close we could come to the real stopping point there at the stop sign. We were easily entertained in those days!!!!

We had a lot of fun together and I shall miss my friend, but one thing of which I'm sure: Even with her passing and missing a dear friend, I know I will see her in Heaven which means she IS IN MY FUTURE!!!!! Karen Nye CLHS 1962 4 November, 2008

Kay E. Minkner, 64, of Craig, Nebraska, passed away Sunday,

November 2, 2008, at her home.

Kay Elizabeth Minkner was born on February 13, 1944, in

Atlantic, Iowa, the daughter of Cleo and Thelma (Krumm) Minkner.

She moved to Clear Lake, Iowa, with her family early in childhood and

lived there until graduating from Clear Lake High School in 1962.

Following high school she attended community college in Mason City, Iowa.

Kay was married shortly after attending community college and lived in Oakland, Nebraska, as a homemaker raising her three children. While living in Oakland, she worked for Oakland Memorial Hospital from 1988 to 1995. Kay moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1995 with her son, Andrew. While living in Phoenix, Arizona, she worked for Discover Financial Services as a fraud investigator. She was recognized by the company for her achievements in fraud protection during her 12 years of employment. In 2007 she moved to Craig, Nebraska, to be closer to her family members and worked for PayPal in Omaha.

She was a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

Kay enjoyed spending time with her family. She particularly enjoyed playing games, with bridge being her favorite. She enjoyed art of all types and was especially interested in painting and photography. Kay enjoyed the southwest and its serene way of life. She also enjoyed traveling throughout the southwest United States.

Kay is survived by her daughters, Marcy Maxwell and her husband, Rick of Craig, Nebraska, and Kelly Gorman and her husband, Patrick, and her son, Andrew Sydow all of Phoenix, Arizona; her grandson, Clayton Ogden; her mother, Thelma Minkner of Omaha, Nebraska; her sister, Ann Millard and her husband, Leroy of Bella Vista, Arkansas; her brother, Jon Minkner of Omaha, Nebraska; her aunt and many cousins.

She is preceded in death by her father, Cleo Minkner; her brother in infancy, Craig R. Minkner; and aunts, uncles and cousins.

Funeral services will be 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 5, 2008, in the chapel at Hockenberry Family Care in Atlantic.

Burial will be in the Sunnyhill Cemetery in Adair, Iowa.

A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service on Wednesday at Hockenberry Family Care.

Click here to either view or sign Kay's Guest Book. On the right side of the page, click on Kay's name.

Kay's children are holding a special tribute to her in Glendale, Arizona, on Sat, Nov 22. I've included a copy of the invitation below. Please let the kids know if you would be able to come. I know many of you will not be able to attend--but thought some of you might like to send a memory of Kay to be read on the day of her Life Celebration. If you have a little story -funny or not -that exemplifies Kay's life, please send it in an e-mail to her daughter Kelly at

deserthusker1@cox.net.

I don't have e-mail addresses for all the cousins or Kay's high school friends, so if any of you know of someone else who might be included, please feel free to forward this on to them. Thank you. Ann

In Memory of my friend Kay Minkner

Kay was my mother-in-law. But she wasn't "that" kind of mother-in-law if you know what I mean. From the first time I met her 15 years ago, she accepted me as a part of her family. I think she knew early on that first visit in her home that I might be a member of her family someday. It has been a joy to be included in all of her family activities over the years. It is hard to fully measure the impact Kay has had on my life. I am where I am in life because of a courageous decision she made in her life. Her decision to move with her son Andrew to Arizona allowed me to have a safety net when Kelly and I made the same decision a year and a half later. It opened an entire world of friends and experiences that I otherwise would not have found. For that I am grateful.

But more important than Kay's impact on my life is her impact on the lives of her three children. I may be biased because I am married to one of them and close friends with the other two, but they are three of the most considerate, hard working, intelligent, and sensitive people I know. Kay had a strong sense of family values and it can be seen in how she protected her children from bad outside influences. I have probably introduced Kelly and Andy to more "R" rated movies than they saw in a lifetime of growing up in Kay's home. It has been a treat for me to see these values as I went through old family photographs, sat in on holiday celebrations, and just plain spent time with Marcy, Andy, and Kelly. It is truly the product of a lifetime of love and support.

One of the aspects of Kay's life that I admire is her adventurous and independent spirit she possessed. This adventurous spirit was always tempered with a large dose of caution when it came to protecting her children. Kay was the kind of person who would throw caution into the wind and move her and her son 1,400 miles across the country and then not drive on the freeway. Kay loved Arizona but spent a lot of her time on her computer talking to old friends and playing games.

Thinking of Kay as an adventurous spirit and protector of her family is fine. However, I think I will most remember her as the fun loving person who was always the life of our Arizona parties and was always having a good time laughing and smiling. Kay was the master of the "inside" gift that only you and she may know the true meaning of. In fact Kay gave Marcy, Kelly, Andy, Clay, and I one of the greatest gifts of all as we went through all the old photographs, newspaper clippings scrapbooks, and old school report cards collected over the years by Kay. We laughed late into the evening preparing the photos you have seen of Kay and the family here today. As some of you may know, organization was not Kay's strong suit. We found pictures everywhere in her home and in some very strange places too. In her defense, I'm sure her recent move from Arizona back to Nebraska caused much of the chaos. I'm sure she was smiling down from heaven as she watched us laugh and cry and sometimes say "what the heck". It was the perfect last gift from someone I was not only proud to call my mother-in-law, but someone I called a friend.

Patrick Gorman (Kay's Son-In-Law)

November 2, 2008