Sylvia Bratetic
WAUSA – Funeral services for Sylvia Bratetic, 98, Wausa, were held Monday, July 17, at the United Methodist Church in Wausa.
Pastor Claire Gager officiated, with burial in Woodlawn Cemetery in Wausa.
Sylvia died Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at Alpine Village in Verdigre.
Sylvia Ann (Vavak) Bratetic was born April 20, 1925, in Verdigre to Anna (Novacek) and Joseph A. Vavak. She grew up in the Verdigre area and attended Cottonwood Country School, followed by Verdigre High School for two years and then transferred to Creighton High School to graduate in 1942. After summer school at Wayne State College, she taught school in Atkinson for two years, finishing her teaching years in Verdigre in 1949.
In 1949, she married Donald J. Bratetic and began their married life on a farm east of Bloomfield, where they lived for three years. Here in 1950, their first daughter, Marcia Jolene, was born.
In 1953, they moved to a farm they purchased southwest of Wausa on Highway 59. The following year, Kathleen Lou arrived. After moving there, Sylvia joined the Meet Your Neighbor Club and continued as a member until they later moved off the farm. In 1966, their third daughter, Donis LeAnn, was born.
Sylvia worked with her husband all of the years they farmed. Because of health and convenience, they moved to town in 1988, but Don continued working with his herd of cows and other farm activities. Kathy and Curt continued with the family farm.
Throughout her life, Sylvia enjoyed working with her husband, gardening vegetables and flowers, cooking, baking, and entertaining, card playing and dancing. She faithfully served in the Wausa United Sylvia Bratetic
Methodist Church for almost 75 years. Times with her family were very special to her.
She lost her husband in 1999 due to illness and her son-in-law Dennis in 2017, as well as many dear friends and extended family members. She felt blessed to have good health, good friends, and been able to stay in her own home until the age of 94.
Survivors include her children, Marcia DeRoin, Omaha; Kathleen Hennings (Curtis), Wausa; and Donis Bratetic, Wausa; grandchildren, Nicole DeRoin (Frank Canfield), Johnstown, Colo.; William DeRoin (Ashley Byars), Omaha; Erin Hennings, Los Angeles; great-granddaughter, Lola J. Brown, Los Angeles; brother-in-law, Andrew Meirose, Bloomfield; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Don; son-in-law, Dennis; her parents; two brothers in childhood; three sisters; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
