Connie J Starkjohn

Connie Jae Starkjohn, 67, of rural Plattsmouth, NE, passed away at her home Sunday afternoon, July 30th, after a prolonged illness with cancer.  She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Bill Starkjohn, her son Tom (Elaine) Starkjohn, and her daughters Renee (Tom) Cordle and Michelle (Chris) Matthews and thirteen grandchildren.  She is also survived by her parents Darrel and Odelia Boyer, her sister Shirley Nelson, and her bothers Stuart, Mark, and Martin Boyer.  She is preceded in death by her grandparents, Andrew and Minnie Boyer and Nicholas and Eleanora Kummer. Connie was born in Fargo, North Dakota on September 27th, 1949, the firstborn child of her parents.  At a young age she began learning to play the piano.  She loved to play and to sing, and the hymns of the church were an important part of her life.  The most significant event in Connie's life came in college when she became a follower of Jesus Christ.  She became involved in a ministry called The Navigators, and began a life-long pursuit of knowing God and understanding his ways by studying the Bible and being involved with his people through the local church. During the last two years of her life she helped start Louisville Evangelical Free Church, where she was a member.  Connie sought to love people by being interested in their lives.  She was skilled in asking people questions and she prayed for the people in her life.  Each morning would find her reading her Bible and praying.  She led a women's Bible Study in her neighborhood until the last months of her illness.  In the last months of her life she communicated how she loved her family and friends and how she had such sadness at parting.  But she also said how she was leaving with joy because her heart was full of love for her Savior whom she was soon to see face to face.    Connie married Bill Starkjohn on July 17, 1976, and in 1978 they moved to take over the family farm in Plattsmouth just before the birth of their son.  Connie understood the significant role she had as a wife and mother, and she spent the remaining years of her life helping her husband, raising her son and daughters, and loving her grandchildren.  She began educating her children at home in 1987, which she continued until they went to college.  Her thirteen grandchildren were a source of great delight for her.  She was interested in what they were interested in, gave them music lessons, took them out for ice cream on their birthdays, and loved to hear their stories.  A time of visitation will be held at Harvey Funeral Home in Plattsmouth from 4-8pm with family greeting friends from 6-8 PM on Thursday, August 3rd.  Funeral services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Plattsmouth on Friday, August 4th, at 10:30am.  The family suggest memorials to either Louisville Evangelical Free Church or the Plattsmouth Public Library.