Minden resident Eileen M. (Derieg) Raun, 92, died Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, at Bethany Home in Minden.

Visitation is 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Heartwell, concluding with a Rosary and wake service at 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial is 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Minden with the Rev. Evan Winter officiating. The service will be streamed to the funeral home's Facebook page. Interment will follow in the Osco Cemetery southwest of Norman. Craig Funeral Home of Minden is serving the family.

Memorials are suggested to Holy Family Church in Heartwell, St. John's Church in Minden, the Nathan Raun Fund for children's theater in care of the Kearney County Community Foundation, or the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Eileen M. Derieg was born Dec. 22, 1929, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the firstborn child of Francis E. and Rita T. (Kuhl) Derieg. When she was very young, the family moved back to Francis and Rita's home community of Randolph, Nebraska. Eileen grew up in Lincoln, where she attended Blessed Sacrament School; in Beatrice, where she attended St. Joseph School; and back in Lincoln, where she attended Lincoln High School until her family relocated to Hastings in 1946. She graduated from St. Cecilia High School in 1947.

After one year at Hastings College, Eileen transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where she studied dietetics. She lived in the Loomis Hall women's cooperative on East Campus and later pledged the Chi Omega Sorority. One of the highlights of her university career was being named honorary commandant of the Military Ball in December 1950.

Eileen met Robert Raun of Minden in chemistry and economics classes at the university. On June 9, 1951, one week after they both graduated, they were married at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Hastings. They soon moved to a farm five miles south of Norman where they raised crops, livestock and six children in the Osco community. They moved into Minden Dec. 26, 1996.

Before having children, Eileen was a kindergarten aide in the Minden Public Schools and a clerk for the Youngson livestock sale barns in Minden and Crete.

Besides caring for her home and children, Eileen helped on the farm and volunteered in the community. She was a longtime member of the Snowflake Club and Minden Garden Club and P.E.O. Chapter N in Minden. She was a 70-year member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Heartwell where she sang in the choir and belonged to the altar society. She taught religious education classes for many years at Holy Family Church and at St. John's Church in Minden.

For many years, Eileen was a Democratic representative to the election boards in Grant, Cosmo/Grant and finally Minden North Ward precincts in Kearney County. She served on the local Farmers Home Administration board, the Minden Lied Main Street Advisory Committee, the Minden Beautification Team, and the boards of the Jensen Memorial Library and Friends of the Library. She volunteered at the Minden Opera House and read with East Elementary School students through the Literacy Links program. She also was a member of the University of Nebraska President's Advisory Council and a trustee of the University of Nebraska Foundation.

She worked alongside three generations of volunteers serving lunch on Memorial Day in the Osco Schoolhouse. The tradition continues.

Eileen was her husband's best friend and helpmate. She made many sacrifices in support of Rob's activities on and off the farm, including community activism, political involvement and public service. From 1983-85 she maintained a second home for her family in Lincoln while Rob served as director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. There she was active in P.E.O., the Ceres Club, the Chi Omega alumnae board and St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Eileen has been an exemplary daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, neighbor, friend and community leader. She was a woman of keen intellect, a lifelong learner, a compassionate listener, a gracious hostess and a loyal friend to many. She took particular joy in tending her beautiful flower gardens. She loved to play bridge, a game she learned from her mother.

Above all, Eileen's faith animated her life. She had a deep, abiding love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and shared that love with others, including the scores of second-graders she helped prepare for their First Holy Communion.

Although the spotlight rarely shone on her alone, her hard work, devotion and example made this world a better place. Her family will miss her endlessly, but we rejoice in God's promises to His faithful people, and we know that love is stronger than death.

Eileen was preceded in death by her parents; a baby sister, Mary Jane Derieg; an infant son born at rest; two grandsons, Nathan Raun and Paul Hoxmeier; her husband's parents, Chris and Sarah Raun; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Ned and Essie Raun and Del and Joan Kopf; a niece, Ellen (Kopf) Miller; and two nephews, Larry Raun and Bill Raun.

Survivors include her husband, Robert Raun of Minden; daughter Sharon Kresha and husband James of Omaha; daughter Carol Walters and husband Matthew of Omaha; son Christopher Raun and wife Teresa of Lincoln; son Kevin Raun and wife Jessica of Minden; daughter Elizabeth Hoxmeier and husband Craig of Orleans; son Andrew Raun and wife Ruth of Hastings; 22 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Thomas and Peggy Derieg of Eagle, Idaho; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Arthur and Ruth Raun of Elbert, Colorado; cousins; nieces; nephews; and many friends.

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