Verla mae Karsten

Verla Mae Karsten: Verla Karsten, 91, of Greeley Colorado passed away on May 1, 2020. Verla was born on July 11, 1928 to Floyd and Anna (Schmeidel) Kuskie in Grant, Nebraska. She attended country school and then graduated from Perkins County High School in 1945. She received her Normal School Training Certificate and was certified to teach in rural schools. Her first teaching position was at a school southeast of Brule, Nebraska. She also taught school for 2 years in a rural school northwest of Grant, Nebraska. She met and married Eugene Karsten on April 16th, 1948. They resided in Grant, Nebraska for 8 years where they had two children, David Eugene and Stephanie Karsten. They later moved to Omaha where her husband was employed by General Electric Company and she attended beauty school. She later finished her training in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and obtained her Beauticians License. Verla and Eugene resided in Scottsbluff from 1957 to 1979. During this time, Eugene was an electrical contractor and Verla often performed bookkeeping duties for his business. In late 1979, they moved to Alliance, Nebraska where her husband worked for Burlington Northern Railroad until 1989. During this time, Verla was involved with the Alliance Methodist Church Sunday school program where she taught classes for 9 years. In 1989 they moved back to Scottsbluff. Verla was an AVON representative while she lived in Alliance and continued this while living in Scottsbluff. She also took pride in co-leading a local recovery support group. Verla had several hobbies during her lifetime, she enjoyed making latch hook rugs for some time and later in life she liked to hand paint drawings on tea towels. She often mentioned that one of her favorite things to do in the summer was go for rides with her husband around the Scottsbluff National Monument. In 2005, they moved to Greeley, Colorado to be closer to their daughter Stephanie. Verla is survived by her son David (Lois) Karsten of Bozeman, Montana, and daughter Stephanie (Roy) Reinhardt of Windsor, Colorado; 3 grandchildren, David Karsten Jr., Holly (Alan) Ringlein both of Bozeman, and Marcus (Amy) Reinhardt of Eaton, Colorado; 5 great-grandchildren, Kristopher and Alex Karsten, Sidra and Wyatt Ringlein, and Levi Reinhardt. Verla has three surviving sisters, Joan Peterson, Francis Reed and Janice Lair. She is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces. Verla was preceded in death by her parents, 2 brothers, Chester and Bernard Kuskie, sister Florence Kuskie and one great-grandchild, Lily Grace Ringlein. Finally, in August 2019, Verla lost the love of her life (Eugene). They had been married 71 years. We trust that Verla is now with Jesus and reunited with her husband and family. A private service to spread their ashes will be held with family in the future.