Thelma “Myrt” Geraldine Burtch Dunn-Howard, 92, passed away peacefully on May 4, 2018, in her home, with her family by her side.

Thelma was born on Aug. 29, 1925, to Orvill and Anna Burtch in Frontier County. She attended the Nebraska School of Agriculture in Curtis, where she received her high school diploma in 1942. She attended one year of college where she received her teacher’s certificate and taught in a country school.

In 1944, she married Clayton I. Dunn. They made their home in Maywood, where they raised their children, Douglas, David, Donald and Debra. In the late 1950s, Thelma became the bookkeeper and office manager for the Maywood Public School District, where she worked until she retired in 1988.


After Clayton passed away, Thelma moved to Wickenburg, Arizona, in 1993. There she met and married Ray Howard. They were married for four years before Ray passed away. While they were married, they enjoyed their time in Wickenburg and at Ray’s lake home in Montana where they spent time with Ray’s children and grandchildren.

She returned to Nebraska in 2001 and lived in Bellevue until 2016 when she moved to Lincoln.

Thelma was an active member of the United Methodist Church and belonged to the Maywood UMC, Curtis UMC, St. James UMC in Bellevue and most recently attended Trinity UMC in Lincoln. While in Arizona, Thelma was a member of the St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. She was part of the choirs in most of these churches, usually as the choir director. Thelma loved music, and in addition to the church choirs, she directed the Free Spirit Singers and the Easter Pageant Choir in Curtis. Thelma was actively involved in the American Legion baseball team in Maywood as the official scorekeeper while Clayton coached the team. She was also a member of PEO, and while in Bellevue, she was a member of the Red Hat Society.


Thelma was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Clayton and Ray; four brothers; one sister; and her son, David.

She is survived by her children, Douglas (Ann) of Greenville, Rhode Island, Donald (Marsha) of Lincoln, and Debra (Rick) Nelson of Silverthorne, Colorado; daughter-in-law, Ann of Papillion; 11 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 14, at St. James United Methodist Church in Bellevue. Inurnment will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, at the Curtis Cemetery.