Juanita "Nita" Denker

  Juanita (Nita) Rae Denker, 82, of Homer, Nebraska, passed away Monday, October 17, 2016, at Elk Ridge Village Memory Care in Elkhorn, Nebraska.      Services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 24, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Homer, Nebraska with Vicar David Hawkins officiating.  Burial will be in Omaha Valley Cemetery following the service. Visitation will be 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, with a 6 p.m. prayer service, at the Becker-Hunt Funeral Home in South Sioux. Nita was born Juanita Bergeon on October 18, 1933, in Homer, Nebraska. Nita graduated from Homer High School in 1951. She married Jackie (Jake) Denker on July 22, 1955, in Sioux City, Iowa. Nita worked at the Toy National Bank in Sioux City for 25 years and has been retired for many years. Nita did not have children but was a special aunt to her nieces and nephews. She loved Nebraska sports and football in particular. Nita was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Nita is survived by her sister, Claudia Nitzel, of Elkhorn; brother, John Eriksen and his wife Peggy, of Blair; step-sister, Delores Heck, of Rapid City, South Dakota; nephew, John Stene and his wife Lizanne, of Fremont; niece, Vicki Hohenstein and her husband Douglas of Lenexa, Kansas; nephew, Nicholas Eriksen, of Omaha; niece, Jennifer Bornhorst and her husband Matt, of Bennington; niece, Jessica Ackermann and her husband Casey, of Bennington; and niece, Alex Fitzke and her husband Mike Prinz, of Overland Park, Kansas. Nita had ten great nieces and nephews including Andrew Hohenstein (Stephanie), Anna Shepperd (Trevor), Nicole Prosser (Mike), Eric Kempers, and Megan Wasley (Michael). In addition, Nita had four great-great nephews and three great-great nieces.     Nita was preceded in death by her husband Jackie (Jake) Denker; mother, Frances Eriksen; step-father, Louis Eriksen; sister Joellen Stene; step-brother Darrel Eriksen; step-brother, Ronald Eriksen; and niece Jodi Kempers. Pallbearers will be John Stene, Douglas Hohenstein, Nicholas Eriksen, Mike Prosser, Andrew Hohenstein, and Michael Wasley. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, the Alzheimer’s Association, or the Homer American Legion.