Funeral Services For Mary Alice (Biglin) Earley

A Mass of Christian burial for Mary Alice (Biglin) Earley, age 87, of O’Neill, will be at 10:30 A.M., Friday, November 4, 2016, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in O’Neill, with burial in the O’Neill Cemetery.

Visitation will be Thursday, November 3, 2016, from 5-8 P.M., with a 7:00 pm Rosary at Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill.

Alice passed away on Sunday, October 23, 2016 at the O’Neill Care and Rehabilitation Center in O’Neill.

Memorials may be made to St. Mary’s Schools in O’Neill or St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in O’Neill.

Mary Alice Biglin was born on January 28, 1929 in O’Neill to Frank and Constance (Adams) Biglin. Her father and grandfather were the beginning of Biglin’s Mortuary, which originated in 1879. Her father had the 5th embalmer license in the state of Nebraska at the time. Her earliest memories were of the times that she and her friends would play hide and seek in the mortuary basement.

Alice graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in 1948. She was a teacher’s aide in the Physical Education Department at St. Mary’s Grade School for 10 years.

Alice married James “Jim” Earley on November 10, 1949 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in O’Neill. She worked a few small jobs, at Hallmark and at the S&S Farm Store warehouse. (She was adamant that I put that in here. Does that not sound like our mother?) Mom was funny, talented, and was always busy doing something. She was active in the church and the school. She was creative in an interesting way. She never forgot a birthday or an anniversary. Our days at the cabin with Mom and Dad are times that our families will always keep close to our hearts.

She was known for many things, but one of our favorites was that she would light you a candle for whatever you were doing. Lighting a candle connected all of us to Mom. When we faced something hard, like a difficult decision or an important test, or even driving home, she would say “I’ll light a candle.”

Alice was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She laughed easy and loved hard. She would drop whatever she was doing to help you.

Mary Alice is survived by her three children, Tom Earley and wife Vicki of O’Neill, Cathy Givens and husband Gordon of O’Neill, and Barbara Petersen and husband Daniel of Omaha; eight grandchildren, Benjy, Brooke, Jacqueline, Sara and husband Jesse, Jami and husband Ben, Staci and husband Dylan, Nicholas and wife Kerri, and Ryan and wife Jamie; seven great grandchildren: Ayla, Carson, Parker, Maxwell, Hope, Greyson, and Cole; several nieces and nephews.
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Alice was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jim, 2014; and her five siblings, Robert Biglin, Betty Curtis, Jean Zastro, Joe Biglin, Concy French.

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