John Papstein

John Papstein, 87, of Papillion, NE, died on October 21, 2025.

Mass of Christian Burial is 10:30 am Tuesday, October 28 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Duncan, NE. Visitation is on Monday from 5-7 pm at McKown Funeral Home with a Vigil service to follow at 7:00 pm. Visitation continues on Tuesday morning from 9:30 am until service time at the church. Burial will be at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Pierce.

In lieu of plants and flowers memorials are suggested to the family for later designation.

He was born in Winside in 1938 to Henry and Emma (Hank) Papstein. He attended school in Carroll and Norfolk and moved to Columbus in 1968, where he worked at Becton Dickinson for 30 years before retiring in 1999. He married Helen Zechmann on July 24, 1971, and they lived in Duncan from 1978 to 2020. They adopted a daughter, Linda, in 1977 from Seoul, South Korea. While in Duncan, he was a member of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and Holy Name Society. He and Helen moved from Duncan to Columbus in 2020 and were recently living in Papillion.

John loved gardening and had an abundant harvest of vegetables every year. He enjoyed playing card games with friends, country music, dancing, and baseball, especially his beloved New York Yankees, whom he was able to watch at Yankee Stadium in 2000, a dream trip for him. He will be remembered as kind and good-natured, always making new friends wherever he went.

He is preceded in death by both parents, Henry and Emma Papstein, brother Gus Papstein, sister LaVonne Coventry, brother Lyle Papstein, and granddaughter Barrett Schmidt. He is survived by his wife, Helen; daughter, Linda Schmidt; son-in-law, Donald Schmidt, Jr.; grandchildren, Rylan and Harper Schmidt; brother, Virgil Papstein; and sisters, Stella (Randy) Denbo and Marie Hafferman; sisters-in-law Betty Zechmann and Mary Ann Casey.