Jean A. Hird

Jean A. Hird, 94 of Kearney passed away Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at St. John’s Good Samaritan Center in Kearney. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, September 23, 2024 at Kearney First United Methodist Church. Interment will be held at Prairie Center Cemetery at Haven’s Chapel. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorials are suggested to Buffalo County Historical Society. Condolences may be shared online at www.osrfh.com. Services are entrusted to O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral and Cremation Services. Jean was born to Nellie and Farris Branan Jr on May 5th, 1930 in Tampa, FL. Jean grew up on Davis Island with her sister Bette; later she was raised by Nellie and her step-father, Lloyd Lewis. Jean graduated from Plant High School in 1948, and attended a local community college where she belonged to the Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, and starred in numerous play productions with the Tampa Little Theater. A chance participation in a variety show at MacDill Air Force Base caught the eye of Airman Wes Hird; after a whirlwind courtship, the couple were married on November 24th, 1952. Jean and Wes resided in Florida for many years, where both were active in bowling leagues, and Jean acted as a sponsor in AA helping many people get sober. In 1968 they decided to move closer to Wes’s family in Kearney, NE. In 1972, twenty years after their marriage, Jean and Wes welcomed their daughter Betsy to the family. Jean was content to stay in the background of her family’s achievements, but was always a stable, integral force in their success. She did book keeping for Wes with his piano tuning business, and held down the fort when Wes was out of town playing music gigs. Jean was an avid reader, enjoying true crime and detective stories. She enjoyed writing poetry. She also loved to travel, and had a passion for crossword puzzles, maps, and her National Geographic magazines. Left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Betsy Warren, son-in-law Steven Warren, her brother and sister in law Farris and Joan Thompson, and numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Wes, her sister, Bette Gamble, her mother, Nellie Lewis, her Father, Farris Branan, Jr, her step-father, Lloyd Lewis, her niece, Sherin Martin, and her great-nephew, Michael Gamble.

Jean A. Hird

May 5, 1930 - September 17, 2024