Mabel "Mae" Heger

HEGER, Mabel E. “Mae” 11/15/1929 – 3/2/2021 Mabel Edith (Mae) Heger was born November 15, 1929 in the family farmhouse of Walter and Harriet Neuhaus in rural Bennington.She had one older brother, Robert.Her parents, brother, and her husband, Deryle, all preceded her in death.She was baptized at Zion Lutheran church in rural Bennington.Mae graduated from Elkhorn High School in 1946.Upon graduation, she worked at Mutual of Omaha.She lived in a boarding house on 48th & Harney with ten other gals during the week to be closer to work.She met the love of her life when she was 15.Deryle was picking up milk from her families’ dairy farm and after a while she was riding the milk route with him.They married on January 1st, 1950.Deryle and Mae had a very strong and loving marriage up until the very end. To this union, they were blessed with six children: Marilee, Terry, Bob, Bill, Lori and Patti.Mae had a loving relationship with each of her children. Mae worked along-side Deryle on the farm and taught their children to do the same.She often would tell people that her knees got bad from carrying heavy five-gallon buckets of feed to the livestock.She also was always cleaning the house and mopping the floors. So much in fact that Dad always teased her that she would be buried with a dust rag in her hand. Over the years Mae canned hundreds of jars of her Crystal Chip pickles and tons of bags of sweet corn for the freezer.A favorite memory of Patti and Lori’s is how fun it was to chase after the chickens once Mae butchered them by cutting off the chickens’ heads. All the girls helped in that process by either plucking the feathers from the chickens or collecting eggs.Often the chickens and the eggs were sold to people in Millard.Mae always made birthdays special with a family dinner that usually included her homemade chicken salad. Having a large family is a lot of work; especially with six kids and a diabetic husband but Mae learned to handle it all.She was up early every morning making three meals a day plus lunches (often run food to the field) along with running any home/farm errands and chores. On Sundays, she did all of that plus get all of us kids and herself ready for church and then quickly came back home to make a large Sunday meal and have it on the table promptly by noon. Besides helping on the farm, Mae held several jobs throughout her life including working at Brandeis in downtown Omaha, Virgie’s Dress Shop, Richman Gordmans, the drapery department at Sears and as a cook at Millard North Middle School.Her last job was at DTN with her daughter Patti. There Mae honed her computer skills sending second notices to past due subscribers.Mae thrived during that time and found her voice.She retired from DTN in 1992 by taking a stand that it was not right that she be denied a raise just because she was part-time.It was also during this time that she started volunteering at the Sarpy County Election board during elections. Mae enjoyed creating the Thanksgiving display at her church, St. Paul’s Lutheran in Millard.She also always helped with the families’ Millard Days “farm” float.Mae also was co-leader of the Millard Misses 4-H club for a while when Patti and Lori were members.She loved Bingo!She would drive herself to the Millard Social Hall to play Bingo.Dad did not think much of it, but sure liked it when she won!In later years, the girls took her to play bingo at various places nearby; often including their own friends in the fun.Terry and Patti took Mom to Las Vegas on her birthday for several years so Mom could play the slot machines.Once Mom was in the memory care facilities, her favorite past time was still Bingo. Mae was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007. At first, the family knew but Mae didn’t which they felt was a blessing.When a doctor told Mae then things changed.Knowing she had the disease took the wind out of her sails, so to speak.We all learned to not say “Mom, you already told me that.”We just listened and answered her questions again and again and again.But that is life with Alzheimer’s.When Dad was still living, he was grateful that he could get a break from it by going outside to his shop.Mom loved everything about farm life; especially gater rides with Deryle; after his passing was still able to enjoy them with her son Bill.Mom stayed on the farm for several years after Dad’s passing with the help of the family. The farm was always busy, but Bob would often come into the house to check on Mom and tease her about anything to lighten the day.After a while though, it was in her best interest to be moved to a memory facility.Mae resided at Hillcrest Memory Care in Gretna for a year and a half and then moved to Legato Living on New Year’s Eve in 2019 where she resided until her death.Everyone at both facilities learned to love her as she was often their favorite. During the last year or so, Patti would call her siblings while visiting Mom so they could talk.We always tried to end the calls with Mom saying I love you so very much. Mae is survived by her children, Marilee Polacek, Terry Scigo, Bob Heger, Bill Heger Lori Heger and her husband Ed Conant and Patti Dunaway and her husband Scott.She is also survived by her grandchildren Ben/Anne Polacek, Jon Polacek, Kate Polacek, Jenne Scigo/Pohl Longsine, Matthew/Joyce Scigo, Stephen/Ashley Scigo, Jackie Heger, Beau Heger and two step-grandchildren Scott Dunaway Jr and Amber/Jeff Bare.Mae’s family also includes great grandchildren Henry Longsine, Luna and Sonja Scigo, Elisabeth Polacek, Mila Scigo as well as four step-great grandchildren Damian and Anthony Erikson, Landyn and Savanah Dunaway. Funeral Service: Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 6:30pm, with visitation beginning at 5:00pm, all at Braman Mortuary (Southwest Chapel) Interment: Mt. Auburn Cemetery Memorials to the family To view a livestream of the service, click "Watch Webcast" under Mabel's picture. Braman Mortuary (Southwest Chapel) 6505 S. 144 St. Omaha, NE 68114 402-895-3400