Nina L Stirn

Nina Lea Stirn, 92, of Grand Island died October 30, 2020 at Bickford Retirement Community. Due to COVID-19 restrictions a private memorial service and burial will be held. Memorials may be sent to the family in care of the Apfel Funeral Home.

Nina Lea was born on a farm northwest of Hill City, KS on March 23, 1928 to William Gilbert and Nina (Egee) Swank. After her mother died in 1932, she was raised by her grandparents, Charles and Emma Swank. Nina attended Memorial High School in Hill City, KS and graduated in 1945. After graduation she moved to Tescott, KS where she attended Brown Mackie College in Salina, KS. That is where she met Warren Alfred Stirn.

Warren and Nina married on May 17, 1947. To this union four children were born. Warren (Alan), Kenneth, Steven and Sandra. They lived in several places while raising their children, Topeka, Wichita, Salina, KS, Omaha, and finally Grand Island, NE. Nina and Warren were happily married for 53 years; Warren died on August 30, 2000. Nina was a homemaker most of her life, but during her middle years she worked for the Omaha Public Schools in food service at Beverage Jr/Sr High School and then at Burke High School. In Grand Island she worked for the Nebraska Veterans Home as an Aid Tech. She retired from the Veterans Home in 1990. On June 26, 2009 she married Jack Rowse. Jack died November 26, 2016.

Nina loved many things most of which was her family. She was a devoted wife, and proud mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She loved hosting large family dinner gatherings at her home. Nina loved to spend time near Hill City, Kansas at both her Aunt Marjorie’s/Uncle Fred Zohner’s farm and her sister Esther’s/Bill Worcester’s farm. She developed a love of genealogy to better get to know her family. Because of this research, she found that she had a relative, Captain James Tatum, of North Carolina, who fought in the Revolutionary War which qualified her for becoming a proud member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). Nina loved to sew, and her children and grandchildren have many quilts she had hand stitched. She was famous for her pies and chicken and noodle soup and taught her granddaughters how to make both. She made hundreds of fruit roll-ups for her grandchildren from raspberries from her garden. She was active in scouting as a den mother in Salina and Omaha. She loved to read and travel but did not get to do as much of the latter as she wanted.

Survivors include children: Alan of Marysville, KS; Kenneth (Alana) of Kearney, NE; Steven (Theresa) Stirn of Grand Island, NE; Sandra (Kent) Silvester of Imperial, NE; grandchildren Ryan (Robin) Stirn of Grand Island, NE; Andrew (Jen) Richert of Gillette, WY; Kristen (Shawn) Phillips of Omaha, NE; Micala (Nathan) Marchese of Shawnee, KS; Kendra (Josh) Dalsing of Lenexa, KS; sisters: Esther Worcester of Hill City, KS, Sally (Robert) Garfield of Tahoma, OK; brother Standley (Jodee) Swank of Eldorado, KS; Jack Rowse’s sons: Glen and David and their families; 10 great grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

She is preceded in death by her husbands: Warren and Jack; parents; sister, Emma Marley; brothers: Charles, William, and Albert.