RATHMAN, Vivian E.

Vivian E. Rathman, 94, of Grand Island died Thursday, March 16, 2006, at Heritage Living Center in St. Paul. Services will be at 10:30 A.M. Wednesday at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Grand Island. The Rev. Phil Flott will officiate. Burial will be in Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday from 4 to 8 P.M. with a 7 P.M. vigil for the deceased at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home. Mrs. Rathman was born December 19, 1911, at St. Edward, NE to Roy and Margaret (Carroll) Ellison. Survivors of the immediate family include one son and daughter-in-law, Gerald and Gloria Rathman of Farwell, NE; a daughter-in-law and her husband, Irene and ‘Bud’ Gerweck of Falls City, NE; one brother, Harold Ellison of Genoa, NE; two sisters, Margaret Hellbusch of Albion, NE and Katherine Roach of Central City, NE; and a sister-in-law, Louise Ellison of Funk, NE. Additional survivors include five grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Vivian grew up and attended school in Belgrade, NE where she graduated from high school. She then attended St. Francis School of Nursing in Grand Island, graduating as a registered nurse in 1933. She married Louis Rathman on January 29, 1934, at Cedar Rapids, NE. The couple farmed near Belgrade and then moved to a farm near Alda in 1945. Vivian worked at the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant in the late 40’s. She and her husband moved to Grand Island in 1958. Vivian worked as a registered nurse at St. Francis Hospital, later at Lutheran Hospital and then at the Grand Island Veteran’s Home. She retired in 1974. She did special duty nursing in her retirement working for Dennis Hiat Ambulance Service, Gay Moon Ambulance Service, and later for Bill Burke Air Ambulance Service. Mrs. Rathman was member of St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish, St. Mary’s Quilting Club, and a member of the Catholic Daughters. She was a very spontaneous person who enjoyed her life to the fullest. She enjoyed playing cards, bingo, quilting, travel, painting, sculpture, genealogy, history and collected rocks and arrowheads. She moved to Riverside Lodge in 1999. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1991; one son, Max Rathman; two sisters, Audrey and Agnes Ellison; a grandson-in-law, Mike Sells and great-granddaughter, Nicole Rathman.