Bernard Nitsch

Bernard Nitsch, 89, of rural Columbus, quietly passed away in the presence of family and his caregivers on November 10, 2020 at Good Samaritan Home in Osceola, NE due to a long-term illness and COVID-19.

Visitation will be 4:00 – 6:00 PM on Sunday November 15, 2020 at McKown Funeral Home in Columbus, NE.  Private family services of Christian burial will be held Monday at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Duncan, NE with Father Walter officiating. Burial will be following at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church cemetery.  Directed health measures will be followed.

In lieu of flowers, plants, or statues, memorials may be made to the family for future designation.

The Service on Monday morning will be broadcast on the McKown Funeral Home Facebook Page starting at 10:30 a.m.  You can access the Facebook Page by clicking here .

Bernard, a teacher and farmer, was born January 20, 1931 in a small farmhouse south of Duncan, NE. A child during the 30's, he received his grade school education in a rural, one room farmhouse south of Duncan and was a graduate of Duncan High School in 1948. Furthering his education, he went on to pursue and receive his teaching degree in Mathematics and Industrial Arts at Kearney State College in 1952.

He began his teaching career in Lyman, NE. Then he taught in Platte Center, Howells, and Cedar Bluffs where he taught various mathematics and industrial arts classes, and served as school principal.  While teaching Bernard married the love of his life Bernice Zelda August 22nd, 1959 at St. Andrews church. After receiving a National Science Foundation scholarship, he attended Arizona State University and received his Master's degree in Mathematics. They returned to Nebraska in 1963 to resume teaching at North Bend High School. He continued his teaching career at Columbus High School starting in 1967, where he taught various high school mathematics courses over the ensuing 25 years.  His true love was teaching calculus and trigonometry.  He enjoyed nothing more than seeing his students learn various math concepts. He also enjoyed and was well known to utilize various witticisms in his teaching every day to help his students (and his children) to learn about various life lessons not always taught in the books they used in school.

During their time together, Bernard and Bernice became the proud parents of two daughters, Bernardine and Bonnie, and a son, Bob. They formed a strong bond by working together to support a family farm where they nurtured their other loves of working with various livestock, caring for family pets, raising various crops, and building a home together.  Bernard truly loved farm life and the opportunities it provided him to connect with the Lord.  Whether it was cutting firewood in the timber, fixing fence, simply watching the local turkey population, or observing the frost on the cornfield and trees, he was truly connected to the land.  He loved the "teaching moments" of using chain saws, splicing together a barbed wire fence, disking a field with the right tractor speed, or teaching his kids and their friends that baling straw on the hottest days of the year was a good "life lesson" for everyone.  Everything he did had a purpose.

During their married life together, Bernard and Bernice were active members of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Duncan, NE.

Preceding him in death were his parents Anna and Rudolph Nitsch, and three brothers, Willie, Rudy, and Alfred.

He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and other family members.