Watch Mildred's Tribute Video

Funeral Services for Mildred Mae (Seger) VanBuren, age 86 formerly of Norfolk and Atkinson, will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill. Burial will follow in the O’Neill Cemetery.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at Biglin’s Mortuary. Mildred passed away on Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at Wayne Countryview Care & Rehabilitation Center in Wayne, NE, where she had resided for the last five years since her husband Ervin’s death on June 24, 2017. Memorials may be directed to her family for future designation. Arrangements are entrusted to Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill. 

Mildred Mae Seger was born on September 23,1935, at home near Atkinson, Nebraska, to Frank Edward and Viola Clara (Osborne) Seger, the second youngest of ten children. She grew up and attended rural schools in the Atkinson area, and then attended Atkinson High School.  She met Ervin Leroy VanBuren, when he was home on leave from the Navy in 1950, at the roller-skating rink in Atkinson.  The two were wed on May 20, 1951, at the Methodist Church in O’Neill in a Double Wedding ceremony with their friends Marlene Geary and Bill Kiser.

They lived on a ranch near Atkinson for a time, and their three children were born: Linda Mae, Sharon Kay, and Michael Ervin.  Later they moved to O’Neill, then to the Wisner and Stanton areas in the late 50’s, where they farmed.  They made their home in Stanton, NE in 1975 and then moved to Norfolk in the 1980’s.  Mildred began working the for Norfolk Public School system as a Paraprofessional in 1988 and retired in 2000, but continued to substitute for several more years.  She was so important to the children in her special-needs classrooms.

Mildred loved being a grandmother and couldn’t wait to be a great-grandmother and a great-great grandmother.  She loved to cook and bake, raised a large garden and beautiful flowers, as well as crotched and embroidered many items.  She also enjoyed camping and fishing.

Mildred is survived by her three children, Linda (Donald) Hoehne of Laguna Vista, TX, Sharon McQuistan of Wayne, NE, and Michael  (Shelly) VanBuren of Billings, MT; eight grandchildren, Donald Jr. (Krista) Hoehne, Laura (Abraham) Tatpati, Christina (Brian) Larson, Teresa (Jessy) Mick, Sheryl (Alex Garcia) Salmons, John McQuistan, Francesca Davis, Raschelle (Brad) Drumheller; 11 great-grandchildren, Nathaniel, Alexander, and Abigail Tatpati, Brett (Shantel) Hendrix, and Tom Hendrix, Siera and Cailee Brugger, Emil and Emily Davis, Jordan Milledge, and Britton and Willow Drumheller; one great-great grandson, Braydon Hendrix; one sister, Margaret Seger of California; sister-in-laws, Wilma Buckles of Lake Havasu City, AZ and Vivian VanBuren of O’Neill, NE; brother-in-law, Willard VanBuren of Ashland, NE; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; granddaughter, Jacqualyn VanBuren; great-grandson, Matthew Hendrix; son-in-law, Gayle McQuistan; sister, Maxine (Edgar) Bulau; seven brothers, Edward Seger, Clifford (Jeanne) Seger, Raymond (Helen) Seger, Orville (Louella) Seger, Ralph (Fern) Seger, Calvin Seger, and James Seger; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Ralph and Gertrude VanBuren;  brothers-in-law and sister-in-laws; Ralph (Etta) VanBuren, Jr., Donald VanBuren, Marvella (Robert) Jonas, Frankie Buckles, Paul Benedict, and Wayne and Carl Butler.

Mildred passed away at the age of 86 years, 10 months, and 9 days.