| Carolyn “Sue” (Lambertus) Halsey |
Carolyn “Sue” (Lambertus) Halsey, 81 of Dannebrog, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at CHI Health—St. Francis in Grand Island. A celebration of Sue’s life will be held January 18, 2025 at Jacobsen-Greenway-Dietz Funeral Home in St. Paul. Please come and have a beer in honor of Sue. Family is greeting friends from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m., and guests are encouraged to wear their Husker gear. A private inurnment will be held at Oak Ridge Cemetery at a later date. Memorials are suggested to Dannebrog Fire and Rescue.
Sue was born October 19, 1943 to Marvin and Geraldine Lambertus in Gothenburg. She grew up in Gothenburg until her family relocated to Grand Island when she was in the sixth grade. She finished her schooling at Grand Island Senior High, graduating in 1962. She was a huge lover of sports, having played softball, basketball, and even enjoyed high jumping. During her senior year, she started creating portrait oil paintings for Jack Bailey Photography. She was a woman of many talents and never backed down from a challenge. During her fun-filled life, she worked for JCPenney’s designing window displays and selling advertising for the Weekly Shopper.
Sue married Melvin Halsey at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Island in 1966. With this union, they were blessed with two children, Billy and Buffy. In 1976, they moved their little family to Dannebrog, where they had made their home for the last forty-eight years. During the late 1970s, Sue was a recess monitor for the Dannebrog school before shifting to driving a school bus for Centura from 1980 until 1993. Before retiring, she worked at Eric’s Tavern and Harriett’s Danish doing many different jobs, including cooking, bartending, and anything else she was asked to do.
Outside of work, she had many hobbies. These included coaching girls’ softball, painting portraits and wildlife paintings, camping, fishing, and having a “huge garden”. There was never a Husker game or event Sue didn’t care about. From her wearing Husker gear, to having Husker recliners, to every kitchen appliance colored red, and to finish it all off her crazy red shoes. Anyone that knew her knows her favorite pastime was spending time with her grandkids and causing trouble anywhere and everywhere she went. She never had a dull moment no matter the circumstances. The Dannebrog community got to know her well with her daily “patrol” trips downtown, making sure to keep Kerry’s Grocery and the ladies at the bank on their toes.
The loved ones that are left to remember her trouble making are her children, Bill Halsey and his wife Jill Halsey and Buffy Holling and her husband Joel Holling; her brother, Doug and his wife Judy Lambertus; her sister, Jackie Headley; her grandchildren, Lindsey (Jesus) Rodriguez, Beau (Rebecca) Beilke, Brock Beilke, BJ Halsey, Macy (Jordan) Guerrero, Brenden Holling, Joey Holling, and Jasmine Halsey; and her sixteen great grandchildren.
Sue was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Halsey; her parents, Marvin and Geraldine Lambertus; and her brother- in-law, Roger Headley.
The Phonograph-Herald | January 15, 2025