Verda I. Cacak

Verda Ileane Welsh Cacak, 92, of Broken Bow passed away Thursday, July 4, 2019 at Quality Senior Villages in Broken Bow.

She was born Feb. 18, 1927 on a farm near Morrowville, Kan., the oldest of five children of Donald and Margaret Stafford Welsh. Verda was raised on a farm south of Fairbury and some of her fondest childhood memories were of fishing in Dry Branch Creek and riding horses on the farm.

She attended Rocky Hollow School, Dry Branch School and Fairbury High School, where she graduated in 1944. After high school, she worked at Gambles Store in Fairbury.

On Nov. 22, 1946, she married Lawrence Cacak at the Christian Church parsonage in Marysville, Kan. The Cacaks made their home in Fairbury where they raised their three children, Carol, Harold and Patty. Verda was a stay-at-home mom while the children were young, later working at J.C. Penney, the Fairbury city clerk’s office and Fairbury Printing and Supply. After retirement she worked part-time at the Fairbury thrift shop.

Verda loved helping her community as PTA president, a leader for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and a member of First Christian Church. She taught Sunday school for many years, was a member of Christian Women’s Fellowship and served as deaconess. She also provided posters for church activities.

Creating art was her favorite pastime. She was a member of the Jefferson County Art Guild for many years and displayed paintings in the community and at the Jefferson County Fair. Her drawing of the Jefferson County Courthouse appeared on the front page of the Fairbury Journal-News and she did the artwork for Fairbury’s Germanfest.

During retirement years, she and Lawrence enjoyed traveling, taking ballroom dancing lessons and spending time with family. After her husband’s death, she moved to Cedarwood Assisted Living at Fairbury in 2014 and Quality Senior Villages at Broken Bow in 2017.

Verda was known for her amazing smile, her warm hugs and her overflowing love and kindness.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence; daughter, Patty; her parents, Don and Margaret Welsh; two sisters, Delores Lindsley and Twila Hinz; and one brother, Buck Welsh.

She is survived by her son, Harold of Orange County, Calif., daughter, Carol Allen, and her husband, Jay, of Broken Bow; grandson, Ben, and his wife, Bethany, of Ashland; granddaughter, Jessica Bartak, and her husband, Scott, of Merna; and great-grandchildren, Aaron and Megan Bartak of Merna; sister, Vonia (Dutch) Scheer of Fairbury; and sister-in-law, Lois Welsh of Fairbury; along with many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, at the First Christian Church in Fairbury with burial at the Fairbury Cemetery.The family will greet fiends at the Funeral Home from 6-8 Wednesday evening.  Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home in Fairbury is in charge of arrangements.