Lois Fern McCloud
McCloud, Lois 'Fern'
18 Jul 1918 - 13 Mar 2018
Lois Fern McCloud was born July 18, 1918 outside of Ashby, NE. Fern and
her brother, Ray lived with their parents in a sod house on a cattle
ranch where her father was a prominent rancher. Fern loved to tell
stories of time spent living in the sod house, preparing big meals for
the ranch hands with her mother, and attending Saturday night barn
dances. Fern and her brother would ride horse back to school. When
Fern’s Father died suddenly at the age of 42, they left the ranch and
her mother opened a bed and breakfast inside the town of Ashby, and
stayed there until she died in 1977.
Fern married Hall McCloud in 1939 and they lived in Hyannis, NE. Soon
after, they moved to Omaha where Hall was an instructor at the Omaha
School of Welding. Fern attended school at Tech Hi and completed
training in operating hand tools and reading blue prints. She then went
to work at the Martin Plant (which is now Offutt Air Force Base) where
she and Hal both worked on the B-29 Super Fortress, “Enola Gray” that
dropped the bomb on Hirosima. Hal soon got a pilots license and the two
of them would sometimes fly to Ashby to see her mother.
Fern and Hall had two children, Gregory born in 1948 and Sharon in 1951.
They lived on an acreage near Waterloo, NE where the kids graduated from
high school. Hall died suddenly of a heart attack in 1970, but not
before he was able to meet his first grandson, Jason. Her daughter
Sharon had three children, Jason, Jenny and Stacie, who then gave Fern
nine great grandchildren. Greg married Beverly, who had two children,
Rhonda and Dave. Rhonda has two children, Ben and Emily.
Grandchildren were very important to Fern. She attended every sporting
event, big life moment, birthday, and holiday to support and celebrate
her grandkids. She sewed Halloween costumes every year, made everyone’s
favorite birthday dessert, and specialized in baking and decorating
Christmas cookies. Fern was a big sports fan, but her favorite sport was
baseball. She loved watching Major League Baseball and especially loved
attending and watching her oldest grandson play for the Pirates,
Cardinals, Giants, and Angels. She was so very proud of Jason and his
success in baseball. She printed every article, recorded every televised
game, kept his stats, and went to countless games. She was a huge fan
even after Jason was done playing baseball.
Fern never remarried and lived in Valley, NE most of her adult life. She
lived on her own until she was 90, when she moved into Assisted Living
in Valley. During this time her family noticed a decline in her memory
and mobility, though her health was super. Fern was moved to Hooper Care
Center at the young age of 95, where every year we celebrated her
birthday like it may be her last. While at Hooper, Fern started to talk
more and more about Ashby, her mother, the Saturday night dances, and
her life on the ranch. We knew our time with her was coming to an end.
On Tuesday evening Fern left this earth. Fern, we hope you’re at a barn
dance in heaven.
Fern is survived by daughter Sharon Christiansen of Omaha and son and
daughter-in-law Gregg and Beverly McCloud of Lake Placid, FL; 5
grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Visitation: Sunday 3 to 5 P.M. at the funeral home with a prayer service
at 5 P.M.
Services: Private graveside service at Evergreen Memorial Park.
Interment: Private, Evergreen Memorial Park.
Memorials: To Hooper Care Center.
Reichmuth Funeral Home
21901 West Maple
Omaha, NE 68002
402-289-2222
www.reichmuthfuneralhomes.com
