William E. Foster

May 14, 1933 - January 8, 2020

William Foster, 86 Gibbon resident William E. Foster, 86 of Gibbon passed away Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 11, 2020 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Wood River. Father Jorge Canela will officiate. Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Wood River. Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday, January 10, 2020 at the church with a vigil prayer service starting at 7:00 p.m. Memorials are suggested to Gibbon Public Schools Science Department. Condolences may be shared online at www.osrfh.com. Services are entrusted to O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral and Cremation Services. William Edmond Foster was born on May 14, 1933 in Milburn, NE to William and Maude (Wymore) Foster. He grew up in Merna and graduated from Merna High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Kearney State College and then received his master’s degree from Michigan State University. He married Deloris Mannel in 1952 in Anselmo, NE. They had six children: Pamela, William Jr., Penelope, Daniel, Robert and Stephen. William taught in Custer County for a few years and then went to teach at Gibbon Public Schools for over 40 years. During his years of teaching, he started the wrestling program at Gibbon Public Schools. William was an outdoors man and liked to fish. He also enjoyed building and flying model airplanes and was a member of the Model Airplane Aeronautics. He attended the Shelton Catholic Church and Wood River Catholic Church. William was a former Knights of Columbus member and former Elks member. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 67 years, Deloris Foster; children, Pamela Foster of Topeka, KS, William Foster, Jr. and his wife, Denise of Lincoln, Penny Kenney of Manhattan, KS, Dan Foster and wife, Trish of Circle Spring, TX, Robert Foster and his wife, Terri of Sioux Falls, SD, and Stephen Foster of Wood River; 17 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Bill was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters; and son-in-law, Jay Kenney.