Ann Marilyn Huebner

Ann Marilyn (Tyson) Huebner, 88, of Grand Island, died peacefully Saturday, July 9, 2022, holding the hands of family members and entering into the presence of her Lord and Savior from a nursing facility in Loveland, Colorado.

A celebration of life will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Grand Island, Nebraska on Saturday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m. A reception will be held following the service at the church. Private interment will be held later.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts are suggested to Grace Lutheran Church, the GIPS Foundation, or the Teammates Mentoring Program. Allnut Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Marilyn was born in Murray, Nebraska to Dr. Roland and Frances (Peterson) Tyson on February 18, 1934. From watching movies on the side of the local grocery store building on summer nights, to driving her physician father on house calls in the middle of the night when she was just 12 years old, she always described her childhood as “perfect”. Marilyn graduated from Plattsmouth High School in 1951, and then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She became engaged to the love of her life, Richard “Dick” Huebner, and they were married in Lincoln during her senior year at UNL. Upon graduation with a journalism degree, she quickly joined him in England where Dick was serving at the Alconbury Air Force base where they lived for three years.

Following their time in the Air Force, the Huebners moved to Lincoln where Dick entered UNL’s Law School. Upon graduation, Dick accepted a position at the Luebs Law Firm in Grand Island in 1960.

Throughout the 1960’s, life for the Huebners became very busy. The couple had welcomed four children into the world, and Dick had become very active in his law practice as well as a number of civic organizations. Meanwhile, Marilyn held down the fort at home as she chauffeured kids from place to place, served as a Cub Scouts den mother, attended Gates School PTA meetings, and hosted Christmas caroling parties each year for family and friends.

In 1969, Marilyn’s world turned upside down. Her father had already died two years earlier and in September, Dick finally succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after a two-year battle. Faced with the reality of needing to raise four children on her own, Marilyn turned into a lifelong prayer warrior and often said in retrospect that if she hadn’t turned her life and situation over to the Lord at that time, she never would have been able to persevere. But in fact, persevere she did.

Marilyn’s next 53 years were filled with incredible challenges, accomplishments, joy, celebrations, strength, wisdom, grit, passion, integrity, courage and faith. In the early 1970’s, she served as the first woman president of the Grand Island YMCA, chairwoman of the Regional Planning Commission, and spent most nights and weekends running her children to swim practices and swim meets. In the summers—when they weren’t at the cabin she’d purchased at Johnson Lake (“to keep you kids out of trouble” she’d say) — Marilyn would load all four children into the station wagon and journey to places like Washington D.C., California, the Grand Canyon, Estes Park, Black Hills, the Sugar Bowl, Mexico and Canada. She even took them to Europe by herself, satisfying her own travel bug while establishing one in each of her children as well.

Later that decade, Marilyn went back to school to get her teaching endorsement, and eventually taught for 20 years at Grand Island Senior High, where she also helped coach the swim team for a short time. A compassionate, lifelong learner, Marilyn pursued and received a master’s degree in counseling to better meet the needs of her students and took many of them under her wing when support at home was lacking.

In so many ways, Marilyn’s life was a model of resiliency and relevance She lived in the same house for 62 years. She was a member of Grace Lutheran Church for more than 60 years. She was part of Tom Osborne’s Teammates Program. She loved to garden. She volunteered for the Crisis Center. Marilyn attended her children’s and grandchildren’s basketball games over a span of 56 years (keeping her own stats at nearly every game.) She was a member of the International Visitors Council and hosted a number of foreign visitors in her home, always taking the opportunity to share with her visitors why she loved America so much. She volunteered for the state fair the first year it moved to Grand Island. She volunteered for the Red Cross after the 1980 tornadoes. She was a big fan of her alma mater’s Husker football team. She loved being part of book clubs, playing bridge, and was a voracious reader—often times getting so caught up in a book that she read into the wee hours of the morning.

Marilyn is survived and greatly missed by her four children and their spouses, eleven grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren: Son Richard and wife Susan of Centennial, Colorado – Tyson Huebner, Ben and Kim Huebner (Jonah, Amelia, Harrison), Sam and Kirsten Huebner (Ava, Eleanor, Greta and August), Jessica and Jack Pando (Frances, Leo); Son John and wife Susan of Ventura, California – Emma Huebner and Olivia Huebner; Son James and wife Robyne Huebner of Fort Collins, Colorado – Abigail and Ryan Carey (Lucy, Karl, Rose), Madison and James Givens, and Jacob Huebner; Daughter Susan and husband John Gessert of Lincoln, Nebraska – Greta Gessert and Ingrid Gessert.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Huebner, her parents Roland and Frances (Peterson) Tyson, her in-laws Alvin and Louise (Mundt) Huebner, and her brother-in-law Dan Huebner.

A special thanks from the family go to those who cared for her specific needs in recent years, including Dr. Kim Mikels, Jennifer May, and the staff at North Shore Health and Rehab Center in Loveland, Colorado.