Ruth J. (Harshbarger) Jurgens

Ruth J. Jurgens, age 88 of Nebraska City passed away on Sunday; Dec. 4, 2022 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Nebraska City.

Ruth Jean (Harshbarger) Jurgens was born on March 27, 1934 at the family home in Humboldt, NE; the daughter of Charles E. Harshbarger, Sr. and Margaret P. (Johnson) Harshbarger.  She attended school and graduated from the Humboldt High School with the Class of 1952.  During her time in high school, she was active in Pep Club and served as secretary of Y Teens. 

After graduating from high school, Ruth moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked for the FBI in a clerical position.  After a short time, she returned to Nebraska City and began working as a secretary for the former Coca Cola Bottling Company that was located at 4th Street and Central Avenue.  After some 20 years at Coke, she began a new career as Deputy Clerk of the District Court at the Otoe County Courthouse.  She was Deputy Clerk from 1979 to 1985 and then was elected Clerk of District Court and served in that position from 1986 to 1990. 

She was united in marriage to Bernard Lewis “Bernie” Jurgens on July 6, 1954 in Lincoln, NE and they shared 38 years together until Bernie’s death on March 5, 1992.

She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews including Larry Carpenter of Beatrice, NE, Jean Colgrove (Danny) of Anniston, AL, Dale Carpenter of Blue Springs, NE, Sandy Hoefling (Steve) of Salem, OR, Vicki Murphy (Mark) of Fulton, TX and Micki Jo Seidel (Ed) of Beatrice, NE; numerous other nieces/nephews and great nieces/nephews and her beloved dog Chloe.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a sister Maxine M. Schultz, brothers:  Edward M. Harshbarger and Charles E. Harshbarger, Jr. as well as her parents.

Funeral Services will be held Monday (12/12) at 2:00 p.m. at Gude Mortuary in Nebr. City; burial will follow in the Camp Creek Cemetery southeast of Nebr. City.

The family will greet friends from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (12/11) at the mortuary.

Memorials may be given to the Camp Creek Cemetery Assn. in her memory.

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