Elberta June (Black) Jares

The Phonograph-Herald | February 19, 2025

Elberta June (Black) Jares, 90, of Kearney— formerly of St. Paul and Aurora—passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 9, 2025 at the Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney.

Funeral services were held on Friday, February 14, 2025 at Jacobsen-Greenway- Dietz Funeral Home in St. Paul. Reverend Nicole Schwartz-Eck provided words of comfort.

Musical selections included “The Street By and By,” “In the Garden,” and “Heaven’s Now My Home.”

Pallbearers included Tyler Sondag, Ron Kock, Justin Reimers, Danny Kilian, Bob Peters, and Steve Emmerich.

Honorary pallbearers were +Gary Spilger, +Bruce Larson, Ed Sondag, Jim Elliot, Rich Edwards, and Mike Henry.

Interment was held at the Elmwood Cemetery in St. Paul.

Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date.

Elberta was born on June 28, 1934, to Elbert A. and Della (Brown) Black, at their home in rural Polk County, Missouri. She attended Ingles Rural School in Polk County. At the age of ten, her family moved to Bolivar, Missouri, where she continued her education. During her high school years, she worked at the Tomato Factory in Polk County. Between her junior and senior years, she also found employment at the Soldier and Sailor Home in Marshalltown, Iowa. She graduated from Bolivar High School in 1952.

After graduation, Elberta moved to Grand Island to live with her sister, Willa. From 1952 until 1959, she worked at Allen’s Self-Service, showcasing her commitment to hard work and independence. On October 14, 1956, she married Donald Jares in St. Paul, and they raised two daughters, Linda and Karen. Elberta exemplified the role of a farm wife, taking care of the children and managing the household while also assisting with farm bookkeeping and chores. She enjoyed baking and cooking from scratch, crafts, sewing, and scrapbooking.

Those left to cherish her memory include her husband of nearly sixty-eight years, Donald Charles Jares of Kearney; daughters and son-in-law, Linda Diane (Jares) and Ed Sondag of Omaha and Karen Jean (Jares) Bell of Grand Island; grandchildren, Angela Dawn (Harrenstein) and Justin Reimers of Doniphan, Melissa Nichole (Sondag) and Steven Emmerich of Omaha, and Tyler Joseph Sondag of Omaha; great-grandchildren, Jackson Ryan, Brayden Alan, and Addison Dawn Reimers of Doniphan and Theodore James Emmerich of Omaha; and brothers and sisters-in-law, Elbert and Sandra Black of Kansas City, Missouri and Bobby and Ann Black of Kansas City, Missouri.

Elberta was preceded in death by her sisters, Ruby (Blacketer) Lovell, Willa Mae Koch, Betty Larson, and Myrtle Raile.

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.jacobsengreenway. com.