Funeral Services For Arthur Frasch

Funeral services for Arthur Frasch, age 100, of Butte, Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Butte. Reverend David Feddern will officiate, with burial in Butte City Cemetery.

Visitation will be Tuesday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the church.

Brockhaus Funeral Home in Spencer, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements.

Arthur died Friday, May 20, 2016, at Butte Healthcare Center.

Arthur “Art” Reinhold Frasch was born two and a half miles north of Dallas, South Dakota on November 27, 1915, to Gottleb and Katherine (Vogt) Frasch. Art attended School District #41 (the Heinart School) through the eighth grade. He attended Dallas High School for two years. Times were hard at Dallas and he told of the sky getting dark from all the dirt blowing in the air. The pastures were covered with dirt from the farm ground. There were no crops due to the lack of rain and the grasshoppers ate what little there was. The family lost their farm, so they moved to a farm outside of Fairfax, South Dakota. A lonely tree is all that remains of that farm now. Art then enrolled in high school in Fairfax. The family later moved to what was known as the Lyle Luber farm west of Butte, Nebraska but he continued to attended school in Fairfax, graduating in 1937.

Art worked at various jobs, including working at a gas station in Chicago, Illinois before meeting his future wife, Elsie Faatz, through mutual friends.  Art and Elsie were married after church on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, 1940, in the old Immanuel Lutheran Church in Butte. They farmed for one year north of Anoka on the Herman Place before purchasing a farm west and north of Butte. During those years, he bought a corn sheller and did custom corn shelling for many years. Art built his own tractor hay mover, doing custom hay moving for many years and later built a second hay mover he mounted on a truck. That mover was later mounted on another truck which he used until he retired from hay moving.

Art had a unique musical ability being able to play a piano, organ, saxophone, clarinet, accordion, guitar, and his Grandfather’s violin, which he was very proud to own. Using his musical ability, he had an orchestra and played for many barn dances, weddings, anniversaries, and other occasions for 34 years. He was also an avid dancer and was still going to dances at Carlock well into his 90’s.

Along with corn shelling and hay moving, Art and Elsie farmed and milked cows during their married life and were blessed with three children: Shirley, Vernon, and Vivian.

After recovering from two major back surgeries, he was able to return to his home, but following pacemaker surgery, Art moved to Niobrara Valley Hospital in June of 2012. He resided there until March of 2015, when he moved to Butte Healthcare Center where he resided until his death on May 20, 2016, at the age of 100 years, five months, and 23 days.

He was preceded in death by his wife Elsie; grandson, Mark Mahon; grand-daughter-in-law, Kim Frasch; great-grandchildren, Caleb, Chelsie, and Brenan Frasch; his parents; brothers, Erhard, Walter, Otto, and Oscar Frasch; and sisters, Edna Wolthoff, Rose Glacier and Olga Schowalter.

Art is survived by his children, Shirley Mahon and husband Pat, Vernon Frasch and wife Lorna, and Vivian Frasch; grandchildren, Bradley (Shannon) Mahon, Jeremy (Audry) Mahon, Gene Frasch, Jerry Frasch, Jeff Frasch, Stacy (Pat) McNear, and Andrea Frasch; great-grandchildren, Brandon, Justin, Jonathon, James, and Catherine Mahon, Shaley Mahon, Cooper Mahon, Dillon, Conner, and Haiden Frasch, Keira and Kolson McNear; step-great-grandson, Keyan McNear; and granddaughter-in-law, Liz Mahon.

Art will always be remembered for his love of music and singing.