Funeral services for Beverly Adair Soderholm will be conducted at the Nelson Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege, NE on July 5th, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. with the Soderholm family officiating. Interment will be in the Prairie Home Cemetery in Holdrege.
Beverly Adair Soderholm, 96, of Lincoln, NE died on June 29th, 2024 at Eastmont Towers in Lincoln, NE. She was born June 20, 1928, the fourth of five children born to Arthur and Minnie (Sauer) Soderholm. She grew up on the Soderholm farm northwest of Funk, attended District #26 country school, and graduated from Holdrege High School in 1946.
She attended Nebraska State Teachers College at Kearney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1951 with a major in English and minors in Speech and Music. She earned a Diploma from Emmaus Bible School in Oak Park, Illinois in 1956, attended Moody Bible School in Chicago, Illinois, and then obtained a Master of Arts from Wheaton College in 1960, majoring in Christian Education. She returned to Kearney State College and earned a Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in HERO (Home Economics and Related Occupations) in 1975.
As “Miss Soderholm” she taught school for over 20 years in both public and Christian schools. She first taught at age 19 in a country school (District 37 – Phelps County), and she later taught in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, California, Oregon and Indiana. She finished her teaching years back in Nebraska at the Nebraska Christian School in Central City when she was 51. Her favorite elementary class to teach was third grade, and her favorite high school class was home economics. In the middle of her teaching years, she spent 12 months living in Europe.
Beverly was a part of writing: Another Hive of Bees, a storybook about building Christian character, Tell me the Story of Jesus and Golden Keys, correspondence Bible Study books, and Victory Drill Book, a phonics book.
Beverly left classroom teaching and spent four years providing in-home care to her mother, five years providing in-home childcare and four years providing in-home care to a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. She once again returned to school and became a CNA which gave her additional skills which she used to care for her two sisters as they aged.
Her hobbies included sewing, painting, calligraphy, writing poems, and making music on the violin, piano and auto-harp.
When writing out a part of her life story she wrote “One day in the dorm at college, I was in a friend’s room and right in the middle of our conversation I began to cry. My friend asked me why I was crying, and I said, “I’m not sure I am a Christian.” She shared from the Bible that Christ loved me so much that He died for me, paying the penalty for my wrongdoing. Later, alone in my room, I knelt by my bed and thought how I had displeased God. I read again in the Bible how Jesus Christ loved me and paid the penalty for all I did wrong. I prayed and invited Jesus Christ into my life.”
That was the beginning of a life-long commitment to live for God. She was an ardent student of the Bible and she loved helping others to do the same. She is now rejoicing in the presence of her beloved Savior.
She was preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Minnie Soderholm, her siblings Marjorie, Dorothy, Arthur and Harvey Soderholm, her sister-in-law Barbara Soderholm, a nephew Gerry Soderholm and nieces Jayne Gardner and Kim Soderholm.
Survivors include her sister-in-law, Joyce Soderholm, 4 nieces, 9 nephews and many other relatives and friends.
A memorial has been established in her memory to The Gideons International to be used to purchase and distribute Bibles.
Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com
The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege is in charge of the arrangements.