Floy Alice Durbin, age 94, of Emerson

    Floy Alice Durbin, age 94, of Emerson, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, at the Hospice With Heart Hospice House in Glenwood. Funeral services were held Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, at the Nelson-Boylan-LeRette Funeral Chapel.  Burial was in the Emerson Cemetery.  

    She was born Jan. 1, 1915, near Reynolds, Neb., the daughter of Roscoe and Leona (Payne) Beachler.  She was raised in Nebraska and graduated from Reynolds High School in 1933.  She attended Peru State College where she received her teaching certificate.   She taught in country schools near Reynolds until her marriage to Ivan Durbin on June 7, 1936.  They made their home on the Clover Ridge Farm near Hastings.  After retirement they moved into Emerson in 1974.  Mrs. Durbin was a member of the Reynolds Methodist Church and then the First Baptist Church in Emerson.  She was an active Baptist Mission and Aid Society member, choir member, choir director, organist and pianist both for Sunday school and church, and was a Bible School teacher.  She taught the adult class for many years until having to relinquish the class due to failing eyesight.  She was also a long time officer in the North Grove Cemetery Association.  Two of the first organizations she joined in Emerson were the Asbury Club and Emerson Women’s Club.  She was also Past Matron of Order of Eastern Star.  She and her husband enjoyed summers at their Canadian cabin and winters at their home in Coral Gables, Fla.  Fishing was a love they shared.  Mr. Durbin preceded her in death in 1988 and she lived in her own home in Emerson until moving to the Hospice House in Glenwood on Oct. 27, 2009.

    Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband; brothers:  Ira Beachler and Roscoe Beachler; and sisters:  Bernice Tacey, Bessie McCreight and Marie Peithmann.  Survivors include her daughters:  Barbara Douglas and husband Bill of Emerson; and Christine Durbin of Independence, Mo.; four grandchildren: four great-grandchildren; sisters:  Leora Anastasi of Center Moriches, N.Y.; and Betty Wells of Broken Arrow, Okla.; many nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends including the Hen House Coffee Ladies.

    Memorials are suggested to the Emerson Fire and Rescue, the Heartland Home Health and Hospice of Red Oak and Hospice With Heart of Glenwood.