Sondra Mae Herian

Graveside services for Sondra Mae (Popham) Herian will be 11:00 a.m., Monday, April 4, 2022 at Prospect View Cemetery in Pierce, Nebraska.  Reverend Jackie Perry will officiate.

Sondra passed away Sunday, March 27, 2022 at the Cloud County Health Center in Concordia, Kansas.  Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements. 

The story of Sondra Mae [Popham] Herian began in North English, Iowa on June 28, 1938.  The final chapter was March 27, 2022.  She was ten years old when the family moved to Johnstown, Nebraska.  She was happiest hunting and doing carpentry with her father, Ward Popham.   She did not consider being in the kitchen with her mother, Margaret [Schelm] Popham very fun.  The irony being Sondra’s cooking skills would become her trademark.

Not a fan of school, she graduated Ainsworth High.  Then she and a cousin packed their bags and moved to Norfolk to start the next chapter of their lives.   It was in Norfolk she met her future husband, Ross Herian.  They would have almost 44 years together before his death. 

Sondra worked her career in the mental health field.  She firmly believed in being a voice for the people too often ignored.  From proper health care to new paint in an apartment, she made sure those in her charge were cared for and protected.

Her mother would be proud as Sondra’s love language turned out to be all things related to the kitchen.  Her cooking style was very different than her mother’s.  But family, friends and co-workers never tired of her cooking and baking adventures.  “Let’s try this” was frequently heard in her kitchen.

The chapter in her life about which she felt most strongly was loving those she chose to let into her heart.  She believed in simple gestures.  The card or letter or comic strip mailed to someone just for fun.  The random bag of groceries or chocolate cake to cheer someone during a difficult time. A fervent lecture if she felt someone was making a poor decision. 

Her last years were spent in Concordia, Kansas and then Glasco, Kansas to be closer to her daughter, Jo Herian. 

Some would say this is the end.  Not true.  As long as there is someone to recount her cooking or crafting or carpentry escapades, her story continues.   Left to do just that are her daughter, Jo Herian and her partner, Kent Studt of Glasco; her best friend, Lucy Sanders and her husband, Mel of Norfolk; cousin, Carole Schemm, Valentine, Nebraska; Aunt Gloria Popham of Iowa City, Iowa; Ida Grace Studt and the Missouri crew who became her second family; the angels at the Nicol Home whom she trusted; and the “Divas” – a group of women who kept the sparkle and laughter in Sondra’s life. 

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