Doris Ganz

Doris R. Ganz, 89 of Kearney passed away August 29, 2011 at the Mother Hull Home in Kearney. Funeral services will be 3:00 P.M. Sunday, September 4, 2011 at the First United Methodist Church in Kearney. The Rev. Gary Main will officiate. Cremation will take place following the service. Interment will be at a later date. Visitation will be 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. Saturday at the O'Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home in Kearney and continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorials are suggested to N.E.T. or the National Alzheimer's Association or the First United Methodist Church Choir. On-line condolences may be submitted to osafh.com. Arrangements entrusted to O'Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Homes and Cremations. Doris was born on August 7, 1922 in Stromsburg, Polk County, Nebraska to Carl David and Mabel (Johnson) Jacobson. She attended Willow Hedge Country School and graduated from Stromsburg High School in 1939. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska and her Masters of Arts Degree from Columbia University, New York City. On June 15, 1946, she was married to James Robert Ganz, and to this union were born six children. She taught voice at Mary Harding Baylor College; in Belton, TX; Hastings College, Hastings, NE; Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, NE; Kearney State College in Kearney, NE; and voice and piano at Platte Valley Academy in Shelton, NE. Doris sang professionally, a season with the Dallas Starlight Opera Company presenting many recitals, she was frequently featured as soprano soloist in oratorio and concert productions at UNL, Lincoln, NE, Nebraska Wesleyan, Lincoln Symphony, St. Paul's Methodist Church and Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln; and in oratorio productions in Omaha, North Platte and Scottsbluff, NE. In 1958, she received the outstanding Alumna Award from Hastings College. She sang in the choir of the Methodist Church in Cozad, NE for seven years and while living in Gibbon, NE, she directed the choirs of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches for 20 years, and was a member of those Church Choirs in Gibbon for 42 years and then sang in the Chancel Choir at First Methodist Church in Kearney. She maintained a private studio, teaching voice and piano for 50 years, retiring in 1995. Doris was a member of the P.E.O., Sisterhood Music Teachers National Association, American Legion Auxiliary, and served on the Boards of Directors of the Kearney Community Concert Association, and the Kearney Area Symphony Orchestra. As her husband said, "The lights came up when she entered the room". She is survived by her husband of Kearney, children; James R. Ganz, Jr and wife, Kathleen of Kearney; William D. Ganz and wife, Rebecca of Tucson, AZ; Sara J. Kurlander of San Francisco, CA; Kathryn J. Brasch and husband, Norvell of Denver, CO; Dale T. Ganz and wife Nancy of Manhattan, KS, and Georgia K. Lambert and husband, David of St. Paul, MN. Also surviving are her grandchildren, Jeffrey Ganz and his wife, Hallie, Marcy Neeman and her husband, Mark, David Kurlander, Samuel Brasch, Jacob Brasch, Benjamin Brasch, Joseph Brasch, Daniel Lambert, Laura Jane Lambert, Julia Lambert, Elizabeth Lambert; great granddaughter, Augusta Ganz; sister-in-law, Demaris Jacobson of York, NE and her children, Ward Jacobson of St. Paul, MN and Annie Redfern of York. She was preceded in death by her parents; son-in-law, Daniel Kurlander; sisters, Laura Jane Copley and Marian Teegerstrom; and her brother, David Jacobson, Jr.

Doris Ganz

August 7, 1922 - August 29, 2011