Lanna Claire Halder

Lanna Claire Halder, 77, of Aberdeen, passed away Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at her home.

Her committal service will be 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 1, 2016, at Riverside Cemetery in Aberdeen with Pastor George Affeldt presiding.

Lanna Claire (Hartsock) Halder was born July 29, 1938, in Spencer, NE, to Thomas and Lenore (Ehricke) Hartsock. She was raised in Spencer along with her nine other siblings. Lanna was the first person in Nebraska's history to win a medal for tumbling.

Lanna met Richard Halder from LaMoure, ND and at Spencer, Nebraska, in 1958, she became a married gal. To their union a son and a daughter were added over the next five years.

Lanna began working as a printer for the Dickey County Leader. She would run the computer at the newspaper (being recorded as typing some 140 words per minute) and her husband, Richard, ran the Linotype, which now is a lost art. Goddard's of Ellendale, ND owned the Dickey County Leader and employed Lorna Sand and Eva Walsh as well as Darryl Aunarud. The Leader closed down and changed hands after Malcolm Goddard's death. Previous to this, the Editor was friend and associate, Roger Biggs. Richard worked at the Leader over 30 years as Foreman while Lanna was employed at the computer and print shop for 12 years. Both were part of the crew that put out the Ellendale newspaper.

Lanna was cousins to the Great Kraft Ehricke that created the program known as the V-2 rocket program and through this lineage she was related to a number of famous personalities such as Fred Martin (father of Mini Martin of Peter Pan Fame, Larry Hagman of the television show, "Dallas", Lucille Ball, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and too many others to name.

Lanna was ill for many years and had acquired Shingles that caused severe pain issues. Despite this, she still continued to work at The Village Bowl, where she ran The Snack Shop and later became employed at Mercury Cleaners running the till and doing paperwork. At Mercury Cleaners she worked with Bob Smith and her friend Shirley Rath. After the business closed, Lanna retired and continued to make Aberdeen her home until the time of her death.

Lanna was a jovial person and in most of her pictures was seen laughing and smiling. She studied the Bible meticulously and knew the Word well. Lanna was a mentoring person who taught Sunday school and loved children. She was also an avid animal lover and often fell asleep with two or three cats on her. Her "other children" as they were known, miss her greatly also. Lanna was an artist and did precision work with charcoals or any materials. She could do portraits of people anywhere, anytime or anyplace. She left behind wonderful portraits of Grandpa and Grandma Hartsock. In her spare time, Lanna also enjoyed organizing perhaps some 5,000 or more pictures for family albums, a very ambitious and time-consuming project. She also loved gardening and before the pain of Shingles slowed her down greatly, would grow tomato plants some six feet high with more than 100 tomatoes on each plant. We will never forget the wonderful person that was our mother!

Grateful to have shared Lanna's life are her children: Thomas Richard Halder and Jacquline Richelle Halder, both of Aberdeen; two brothers, Bruce (Mary) Hartsock of Longmont, CO and Steven (Jo) Hartsock of Burr, NE; and five sisters: Darlene Wyman of Lincoln, NE, Phyllis (Leonard) Sell of Winner, SD, Esther (Larry) Hawkins of Freemont, NE, Margaret Hartsock of Inman, NE and Kathy (Mike) Strope of Inman, NE.

Lanna is preceded in death by her husband, Richard; her parents, Thomas and Lenore; and two brothers: Graydon Hartsock and Leonard Hartsock.