Dell Rae Duncan, age 67, of Pilger, Nebraska passed away on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 in Norfolk, NE. Memorial visitation will be held on Sunday, May 29, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Minnick Funeral Home in Wisner, NE, with a Prayer service at 5:00 p.m.
Dell Rae Duncan age 67 was born on November 5,1954 at Norfolk, Nebraska. Entered in to rest on May 18, 2022 in Norfolk, Nebraska. Born to Ruth (Meeske) Duncan and Russell Duncan. Dell Rae grew up on the southwest corner of Pilger, Nebraska, known as Duncan’s corner. She had lived in Pilger all of her life. She attended grade school in Pilger and graduated from Wisner-Pilger High school in 1974. She was a member of St. John’s Lutheran church in Pilger. Dell Rae had a son Michael Alan Duncan of Pilger and later had 2 other children that she selflessly gave up for adoption so that they would have the chance at a wonderful life.
After high school Dell Rae worked in the Pilger Bar. She tended bar and cooked her entire life up until 2014 when the tornados demolished the establishment. She also was a babysitter for many friends and families in the area for most of her adult years. She had a love for children and treated each of them as her own. She had gone on to see many of the children that she helped raise go on to have children of their own.
Her hobbies included canning, cooking, watching game shows, coloring, playing scratch cards, and embroidering. She made a special baby blanket for each one of her great nieces and nephews. She often began making the blankets long before the child was born and it was one of her great joys in life to present these blankets to the family and smile and hold the babies. She only asked for a picture of the child with their blankets. She loved babies and children. Her eyes would just light up when she would see them.
She enjoyed family get-togethers and was known for her famous green beans. No matter who would try to make them, they could never get it right. Sadly we may never know her secret ingredient. She would say she used any brand of green beans and onion and bacon and that was it, however no matter how many times people tried to duplicate the recipe it was never the same. She swore she didn’t do anything special. She also was a master of Christmas cookies and treat making. She would dedicate a week in December making hundreds of treats and bagging them up for all the special people in her life. When you would ask her how she made her famous puppy chow mix so well she would lie and say she just reads the cereal box. Again, no one could make puppy chow mix like her either. Dell Rae canned many things out of the garden and was very gracious to give her hard work away to friends and family. Some of the favorites were pickled beets, pickles, and pickle relish.
Besides her famous at home cooking, she was known to serve the community at the local bar for years. She knew all of the regulars’ orders and favorites. If you asked her to pick the beans out of your chili, she would do it! She hated and I mean HATED making blooming onions! If someone saw she was in a mood all they had to do was say, “Delly I need a blooming onion!” and she’d come out of the kitchen giving the patron a piece of her mind, but she would always make it if you were serious. She had no problem serving burnt grilled cheese and when someone complained she would get a knife and scrape it off and tell them it was just fine as she went to make a new one. When the bar would be up for sale, it was rumored that the sale was contingent on Dell Rae working in the establishment. One owner stated that she introduced herself and said, “Hello my name is Dell Rae and I come with this place!” Boy was she right. Not only did she come with the place, she was the place. She knew every local person, what they drank, what time they normally came in, what they liked to eat, and whose credit was good. She was a very trusted and loved employee. She cooked, cleaned, served the beer and kept every customer in line. If you did push your luck and get out of line with her in the bar she was also known to grab the nearest beating stick next to her to chase you out of the bar. Examples of Dell Rae beating sticks are as follows… Rolling pin, Spoon, knife, spatula, broom, stick of butter, frying pain, fly swatter, and the list goes on. She would always let you come back if you said sorry though.
She cussed like a sailor and hugged like an angel. She was never afraid to speak her mind or knock someone off their bar stool if they deserved it. If they apologize, she would throw them a towel to clean up the drink that usually ended up on the floor with them and tell them to clean up their mess while she got them another beer. Don’t take all this the wrong way, you see she had to be tough for all the things she had to put up with. For instance, the Wolverton Soft Ball Team would do human bowling at beer bottles and this would drive her crazy. Not to mention the time a few un-named individuals thought it was a good idea to march in the bar on horseback. The story goes her lip was quivering with anger and the horses were in a hurry to escape the words being shouted in their direction. Danny held the door and she was still yelling when they rounded the corner to escape her wrath. Rumor said it cost a double ear yanking on her next meeting with the boys on horseback. She wasn’t afraid of anybody and said “you don’t need a bouncer when you got me” after a night of hauling out 2 intoxicated grown men by the arms that were getting
mouthy. One night a young man was messing with the volume on the jukebox and being sneaky about it. After giving him a whooping, she took the cord clean off of it! She didn’t mess around. Many people have many wonderful memories of her. She was a legend in Pilger as some would say. If she liked you, oftentimes when you were in a hurry to leave and you asked what your bar tab was, she would say $999.99. You would have to argue back and forth a few minutes until she actually told you what you owed. When you would call for a last-minute pizza 10 minutes before close, she would answer the bar phone and just say “we’re closed” followed by, “what the hell do you want?” Dell Rae had a heart the size of the Grand Canyon and her death will leave a crater in the hearts of so many that same size. She was a hometown sweetheart under that tough coat of armor. She would give the shirt off her back to a stranger as long as they weren’t mouthy. She truly was one of a kind. After reflecting on her life it may be safe to say that her special ingredient was just LOVE.
Dell Rae was preceded in death by her parents-Russell and Ruth Duncan, sisters-Darlene and Rose Mary, brothers-Gary and Dale, and niece-Mishelle Duncan.
Survivors include, son-Michael Duncan of Pilger, siblings-James Duncan of Pilger, Bob (Carol) Duncan of Wisner, Roger (Karen) Duncan of Pilger, Mary and Warren Frerichs of Pilger, NE, Nancy (Marvin) Beutler of Pilger, NE, and Vern Duncan of Battle Creek, NE, many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. An array of wonderful friends.