LuVerne Bunny Lake

LuVerne (Bunny) Olive Lake, the only daughter of Oren and Lua Dodd, was born April 15, 1920, in Fort Steele, Wyoming. She passed away peacefully into the loving arms of her Savior on July 9, 2014, at the age of 94.After moving to Nebraska with her family at the age of five, Bunny later graduated from high school in Johnstown, Nebraska, and went on to become a schoolteacher, teaching in various country schools. She cherished her students, and they continued to be her €œkids€ for the rest of her life. Letters of appreciation came as recently as the last few years, addressed to €œDear Miss Dodd,€ thanking her for the tremendous impact she had made in their lives.She married her childhood sweetheart, Marvin F. Lake, on October 10, 1941, while Marvin was home on furlough from the U.S. Army. To this union two children were born: Judy Lou and Michael Jay. Marvin and Bunny loved living on the ranch south of Johnstown, and throughout their lives it remained their favorite place. Bunny was truly a €œSandhills Lady.€ Several years ago when her health began to fail, she moved to Colorado to live with her daughter and son-in-law, but the Sandhills and the ranch were always first place in her heart. She loved the beauty of the hills, trees and valleys; and for her, the mountains of Colorado always came in second to the Sandhills of Nebraska!Bunny was devoted to her family and to God. She will always be remembered for the deep and abiding love with which she nurtured and cared for her family and friends. Her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nephews and nieces all hold precious memories of childhoods spent with her. She had the ability to pull a whimsical story from her imagination or compose a new song just for you. And with every occasion she never missed the opportunity to instill a life lesson.She possessed a wonderful gift of making everyone feel very special and extremely loved by her and by God. She was always her family€„¢s biggest fan! Nothing made her eyes light up like seeing one of her loved ones come through her door.Bunny was a fantastic homemaker and also enjoyed assisting Marvin in driving one of the Johnstown school bus routes for 45 years. The €œbus-route€ families always held a special place in her heart. For her 90th birthday, she received a scrapbook full of cards, many from her €œbus kids.€She truly lived a life of service, not only impacting her family, but the community as well by being a gracious hostess, welcoming others into her home and often being the primary caregiver for family and many in the community. In fact, Bunny and her late husband Marvin, in their younger years, were awarded the State of Nebraska Good Neighbor Award.Bunny was preceded in death by her parents, Oren and Lua Dodd; brothers, Ivan and Floyd (Irish) Dodd; her loving husband Marvin in 2001, her beloved son Mike in 1999, her daughter-in-law Fran in 2008 and her son-in-law Norman in 2010.Bunny is survived by her daughter: Judy Miller of Longmont, Colorado; grandchildren: Brett Miller (Evelyn) of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Burt Miller (Kim) of Longmont, Colorado; Brenda Rusk (James) of Berthoud, Colorado; Chad Lake of Laurel, Nebraska, Jay Lake (Lisa) of Elkhorn, Nebraska; Nikki Cook (Wayne) of O€„¢Neill, Nebraska; Mike Harrison (Marcia) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mark Harrison (Brenda) of Orchard, Nebraska; brother-in-law, Kenneth O€„¢Hare and wife Ruth of Ainsworth, Nebraska; several great grandchildren; great, great grandchildren; nephews and nieces. A viewing is scheduled for Monday, July 14, 2014, at Hoch Funeral Home, Ainsworth, Nebraska, from 5€ 8 p.m. A celebration of Bunny€„¢s life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 15, 2014, at the Ainsworth Methodist Church.