Anita Ann Schlager, 60, of Scottsbluff, NE passed away Wednesday June 21, 2023, after a 19 year battle with breast cancer. There will be visitation/celebration of life on Sunday June 25, 2023 at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Home from 4-6 pm. The Rosary will be on Monday June 26, 2023 at 1:30 pm with her funeral service to follow at 2 pm, both at St. Agnes Church in Scottsbluff. The interment will follow the conclusion of the funeral service at Fairview Cemetery with a reception to be held at St. Agnes immediately after. Fond memories and messages of sympathy may be left at www.dugankramer.com for the Schlager family.
Anita was born in Hudson, MI on May 23, 1963 to Dale and Betty Gillett. She enjoyed her early years harassing her grandfather at his bait shop with her two sisters, Lisa and Kathy. Her family then moved to St. Petersburg, FL in 1975. She loved the ocean and spent many days scuba diving and fishing on her father’s boat. She would even take a sailboat to the local McDonalds. Anita had a passion for learning and went on to graduate from Eckard College in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She was the first student to graduate with honors and a perfect 4.0 GPA all four years in the history of the school in her area of study. While she was in school, her family had moved to Torrington, WY, and in 1987, she moved there to be closer with family. Not long after, she moved to Scottsbluff to start work at Regional West Medical Center as a Medical Technologist, where she was able to continue her passion for work in the clinical laboratory. Her favorite area of work in the lab was the blood bank. She married Wally Schlager in 1991 and they had two sons, Keegan and Taylor. When they separated, she went on to devote her life to raising her two boys in doing everything humanly possible to provide for them. They were her whole world. In 1998, she married Dennis Hoffman, and they spent 14 years together raising the boys. In 2005 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she didn’t let that slow her down. She was truly courageous and headstrong throughout the entirety of her battle with cancer. In 2014, when her boys were grown, she decided to take a job in Lincoln, NE for a change of pace. After a brief time there, she found her second home in Omaha, NE. Anita made many friends and worked as a Medical Technologist at CHI Health – Bergan Mercy; a hospital she truly enjoyed. Anita had the travel bug and enjoyed visiting new places and eating at new restaurants with friends and family. She was even known to go down the alphabet selecting new restaurants to try with her friends, Rosie and Rhonda. She spent her final days battling cancer with family back in western Nebraska. Anita can be remembered as an incredible mother who gave everything to support the success and wellbeing of her two sons, as well as someone who stood up for what she believed in no matter the circumstance.
Survivors include her two sons, Keegan Schlager (Nicole Michael) and Taylor Schlager (Drea Palomo); step-grandson, Vinny Palomo; her sisters, Lisa (Chris) Fabricius and Kathy (Scott) Hort; nephew, Michael McLeod; nieces, Katie (Kyle) Donner, Paige, and Danielle Fabricius; and her mother, Betty Gillett.
Anita was preceded in death by her father, Dale Gillett, numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.