“Every life is significant.
Every life has a story to be told.
Let us help you tell that story.”
This was the philosophy that Bill Lauber followed in about 30 years of operating Lauber Funeral and Cremation Services. The story that his life – as well as his wife, Christy, and daughter, Regan – was leading was tragically cut short when they were killed March 17 when the plane Bill was piloting crashed near Enid, Oklahoma.
Bill was 59, Christy was 58 and Regan was 21. They are survived by children, Whitney Chrisman and Michael and Madison Lauber. It was Madison they had flown to South Padre Island in Texas to visit, and the accident occurred on their way home.
Whitney said she will remember her parents’ story as one of them being genuine and caring.
She added how her father was driven in making his business successful, but he also had a “very laid back” nature. Christy, who had been a school teacher at one time, had continued as a Sunday school teacher and had an interior decorating business, will be remembered by her daughter as sharing her “unconditional love” and “quirkiness.”
“And Regan encompassed a lot of the qualities of our parents,” she said.
Whitney said the response and support they have received from people they know – and even those they didn't know – has been amazing. For example, the University of Nebraska is honoring Regan's diploma which she would have received upon graduation in May.
“(Her parents) were definitely people of faith,” she said. “We've been seeing a lot of symbolic signs that they're with us … they see us.”
Dennis Svoboda, the crematory manager for the funeral home, said Bill meant a lot to the people in Milford and Friend in not only in providing business services, but being a community leader.
“I knew him before I started working here,” he said. “He taught me a lot, but he was also willing to let me share some of the things I had learned based on my own experiences.”
Svoboda said he and Doug Wymore will continue to operate the business.
“We're trying to make it work for the families we serve,” he said.
“Disbelief” was the reaction of Jeff Volzke of Seward upon hearing the news of the accident.
The business relationship between Volzke Funeral Home and Lauber Funeral Home can be traced back to when Jeff's father, Deroyce, operated Volzke’s, and Jimmy Moore had the funeral home in Milford before Bill Lauber bought it.
“In a small community, we helped each other a lot,” in covering services and being on call, Volzke said. “We had to do that in order to take a vacation or have some time away. The relationship kept going when Bill bought the business.”
Brad Perdue of Zabka-Perdue Funeral Home in Seward shared the same type of “shocked” reaction when he heard about the accident.
“We had a great working relationship,” Perdue said. “He covered for me when my dad passed away as I did for his.”
He said Bill not only had a close connection with the families he served in the area, but “he also touched a lot of lives” on a state and national level in lobbying for laws that benefitted families and funeral directors.
“I probably had 50 different funeral directors (that called Friday) to talk, share stories and reminisce … kind of our coping mechanism,” he said.
Erica Pallas, president of the Milford Chamber of Commerce, said Bill had her position as chamber president at one time and said it was “heartbreaking” when she heard the news of the accident.
“The community as a whole will grieve his loss,” she said. “He was always good for a laugh … always something entertaining to tell us.”
