Hundreds Attend Funeral for Grand Island's Irene Abernethy

By: Steve Ross Email

Updated: Sat 10:40 PM, Aug 11, 2012

Hundreds gathered to honor and remember long time Grand Island resident and community leader Irene Abernethy.

"She was...an extraordinary mom for all of us; any of us that have lived in Grand Island any time for the last half century," reflected area journalist Pete Letheby.

A teacher, a leader in government, and one who cared about Grand Island's youth, Abernethy called Grand Island home for decades. Among her many achievements, she is credited with bringing a Boys Town home to the city of Grand Island.

"I can't tell you how many stories I've heard recently about how she encouraged them, she went to their ball game, she was at their concert. She noticed individual youngsters. I think in this community, any youngster was her youngster, and she cared about them specifically," said Reverend Jay Vetter, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church.

Ms. Abernethy's caring extended far beyond individuals, to the community as a whole. She served twenty years on the Hall County Board of Supervisors.

"She believed that elective office in its truest sense should be totally ethical and concerned steadfastly with the representation of, and service to, those who had elected her to office," Abernethy's friend Dori Bush explained.

Widely referred to as part of the fabric of life in Grand Island, today there is one thread less.

"She was just an incredible human being and gave service to so many groups, it would be impossible to list them all," Bush said.

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