Arlene Virginia Hilsabeck

Arlene Virginia (Zimmerman) Hilsabeck, age 96, passed away peacefully on October 11, 2019, from complications of dementia. Arlene had spent the past few years in assisted-living and memory-care facilities in the Denver, Colorado, area. Prior to living in the Denver area, she had lived in Greeley, Colorado, for the previous 30 years, in Omaha, Nebraska, for many years before that, as well as many other cities around the U.S. over the course of her married life. Arlene was born October 8, 1923, on a farm in Sedgwick County, Colorado, to parents William Marion and Mary Margaret Zimmerman. She was the sixth of nine children. Arlene graduated from Sterling, Colorado, High School in 1941. She worked several jobs during high school and after, including positions as a waitress, restaurant hostess, stenographer, and secretary to the credit manager at Denver Jewelry. She was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 61 years, John Hale Hilsabeck, who passed in 2008. They were married on June 11, 1947. John's career was with the "Ma Bell” phone company (before the "phone company breakup”) for 41 years, so he and Arlene lived in many cities over his career, including Rock Springs, Wyoming; Sterling, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and New York City before moving back to Omaha. John retired from Northwestern Bell in Omaha in 1981, and he and Arlene soon moved to Greeley to spend their retirement years. Over their married life, Arlene was actively involved in numerous volunteer positions in Omaha and Greeley, as well as being a wonderful housewife and mother. She and John greatly enjoyed travel, socializing, dancing and golf, especially after retirement at Greeley’s Highland Hills golf course, where their home was located next to the third green. Arlene was also preceded in death by her parents; brothers Elmer, Orville, Willard and Earl Zimmerman; sisters Ada Zimmerman, Gertrude Ziegler, and Mary Lou Zimmerman. Left to mourn her passing are her and John’s three children – Hale Hilsabeck of Lakewood, Colorado; Heather (Hilsabeck) Blauvelt (and her husband, Randy) of Thornton, Colorado; and Heidi Hilsabeck, also of Thornton. Her passing is also mourned by her only granddaughter, Julie Pappas (Hale’s daughter) of Omaha; her great-granddaughters Erin Hilsabeck and Kylie Kampe, also of Omaha; four great-great grandchildren by Erin; numerous nieces, nephews and others on both the Zimmerman and Hilsabeck sides of the family; and her one remaining sibling, Marjorie Zimmerman (and Marjorie’s son, Scott Zimmerman), both in Arizona. Arlene will be placed to her eternal rest next to husband John at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Holdrege, Nebraska, where the family burial plot is located. The graveside service and interment will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. The ceremony will be followed by a celebration of life reception and remembrance for friends and family at the Rodeway Inn in Holdrege (420 Broadway St., Holdrege, NE 68949). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any memorial or tribute donations be made to the national Alzheimer’s Association, in Arlene’s memory, at www.alz.org. Cards or other correspondence can be directed to The Hilsabeck Family, c/o Hale Hilsabeck, P.O. Box 27622, Denver, CO 80227.