Brenda L. Kerns

Brenda Lea (Zimmerman) Kerns, daughter of Richard and MaryAnn (Nun) Zimmerman, was born on March 9, 1963, at the Lynch Clinic in Fairbury, NE. She went home to be with Jesus after a hard fought battle with cancer on April 14, 2016, at the age of 53 years, 1 month and 5 days.

She was baptized on May 19, 1963, at Zion United Church of Christ, Gladstone, NE, by Pastor Bryce Hecht. Her sponsors were her Aunt Arlene Zimmerman and Aunt Shirley Nun.

She was confirmed on April 3, 1977, at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairbury, NE, by Pastor Norman Bangert.

Brenda attended school in Fairbury from Kindergarten through 12th grade. After graduating from Fairbury High School in 1981, she attended Southeast Community College in Fairbury. After SCC, she attended Joseph’s College of Beauty in Beatrice and became a cosmetologist and while living in Lincoln worked as a beautician and then worked at LaVon’s in Fairbury.
On Aug. 5, 1983, she married the man of her life, Steven Kerns, at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairbury. They lived in Lincoln, NE, then moved to Hebron. They added two beautiful daughters to their family, Abbigail Marie and Hannah Elizabeth.
When they moved to Hebron, she became a daycare provider and cared for many young children. She gave up the daycare in 2000 to take the position as office manager of the Thayer County Extension Office.

Through the 15 years as manager, she loved teaching and helping kids with their 4-H projects, especially quilting projects. She was thrilled to have taught kids that she babysat and watch them grow through 4-H.

She was a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Hebron, NE, where she was a member of the Altar Guild and the Ladies of Faith. She also helped with the crafts at Vacation Bible School. She made several banners for the church.


Brenda was very talented. She started with crocheting, taught by her Grandma Nun. She then taught herself to knit. After she mastered knitting, she took on a new challenge of quilting. From there, she was hooked.

Quilting came naturally to her. She taught classes, gave presentations and put on workshops at Sew Country in Belleville, KS, and for quilt guilds and 4-H groups. She was a member of the NE Quilt Guild, Thayer County Quilt Guild, Stitch and Bitch quilters, and was one of the founders of the Rock Creek Quilt Guild in Fairbury. She served as Vice President and President for both the Thayer County and Rock Creek Guilds and wrote the newsletter. She was a Piece Maker with the Quilts of Valor. She enjoyed making wall hangings and quilts as gifts for her family and friends.

Besides all of her crafts, Brenda’s love was her family. She was very supportive of Steve’s change in career so he could watch their daughters grow up. She was supportive of the girls in their activities and lives. In 2010, she became a proud grandmother to her first grandson. In 2015, she was blessed with a second grandson. Besides her immediate family she had family through daycare, 4-H, clubs, church and community, and all of these families were important to her.

Battling breast cancer beginning in 2000 didn’t stop her from living a full life. In 2003, she was declared cancer free. In February 2013, she was faced with the new battle of lung cancer. She set her mind to beating cancer again. She bravely fought for 3 years before her pain got the best of her.
She was preceded in death by an infant son, Seth Austin Kerns; her mother MaryAnn (Nun) Zimmerman; and her father-in-law, Delbert Kerns.

She is survived by her husband, Steven of Hebron; daughters, Abbigail Kerns and fiance’ Bill Johnson of Lincoln, and Hannah Kerns of Hebron; father, Richard Zimmerman of Fairbury; brothers, Steve (Judy) Zimmerman of Fairbury, and Randall (Jackie) Zimmerman of Lincoln; sister, Denise (Bruce) Wasserman of Fairbury; grandsons, Ethan and Ian Johnson of Lincoln; mother-in-law, Lois Kerns of Iola, KS; brothers-in-law, Michael Kerns of Crete, NE, Patrick Kerns of Belleville, KS, and Thomas Kerns of Concordia, KS; sister-in-law Nancy Meadows of Iola, KS; nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

Services will be Monday April 18, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairbury with Pastor Christopher Gerdes and Pastor Charles Schmidt officiating. The family will greet friends on Sunday the 17th from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home. Memorials will go to the Family’s Choice. Burial in Grace Lutheran Cemetery.