Charlene M. Villars, 93, of Minden, passed away on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at Bethany Home in Minden. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at First Christian Church in Minden with Pastor Kurt Borgaard officiating. The service will be streamed to the funeral home's Facebook page. Private family interment will be held prior to services at the Minden Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at Craig Funeral Home in Minden. Memorials in Charlene's honor are kindly suggested to the Kearney County Historical Society, First Christian Church in Minden, or to Bethany Home in Minden. Arrangements are under the care of Craig Funeral Home in Minden.

Charlene M. (Borgaard) Villars was born November 26, 1930 in Minden, Nebraska to Charles and Mabel (Youngson) Borgaard. She grew up in the Minden area, graduating from Minden High School in 1948. Then Charlene attended Hastings College for two years, after which she was employed as a secretary in the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In later years, she worked as secretary for the Minden Public Schools in the high school principal's office.

On December 30, 1951 she married H. Bruce Villars at the First Christian Church in Minden. Throughout the next three years they lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, Newport, Rhode Island, Waukegan, Illinois, and in San Franciso and San Diego, California while Bruce served in the United States Navy. Upon his discharge, they moved back to her parents' family farm, where they lived for 35 years and raised their three children: Pat, Rick, and Dan.

Throughout her life at various times, she was a member of the Minden Women's Club, the Minden Garden Club, Chapter N. PEO, the Danish Brotherhood Lodge #16, Extension Club, and the Christian Women's Fellowship of the Christian Church. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Minden and served on many church boards and committees, both state and local.

Charlene's lifelong passion for all things musical started at an early age playing piano duets with one of her best friends while their parents tried to visit in the next room. She was a decades long fixture in the church music scene, serving a stint as choir director and as the church organist from her teens to her eighties. Some of her favorite stories of her days at Minden High School and Hastings College involved band experiences.

One of her main interests was genealogy, that of her own family and of others. She compiled several books for her relatives and friends. She was a member of the South Central Genealogical Society and the Kearney County Historical Society. This interest led to three trips to Denmark and much traveling within the U.S.

Survivors include her daughter, Patricia Erickson (Don) of Kearney; sons, Richard Villars of Arizona and Daniel Villars (Nyla) of Minden; grandchildren, Monica, Kris and Ben, Justin and Chase, and McKenzie, McKayla, and Traelin; cousins that were like siblings, Carol (Youngson) Stone and Louise (Youngson) Carlson; as well as a host of extended relatives and close friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and cousins that were like siblings, Doris (Hansen) Johnson, Geraldine (Hansen) Nielsen, Norry Christensen, Luanne (Christensen) Johnson, Mariam (Borgaard) Jensen, Kent Borgaard, Weldon Borgaard, Mary Ann (Borgaard) Tabler, Dixie (Borgaard) Backhaus, Donna (Borgaard) Tobin, Gene (Garrett) VanPelt, and John Garrett.

Tributes and memories can be shared with the family at www.craigfunerals.com .