Verna June Korell

Verna June (Blackburn) Korell, aka “Honey,” of Scottsbluff, NE, went home to be with the Lord on March 28, 2026, at Regional West Medical Center, with her family by her side. She had lived a full, beautiful life spanning 96 years.

The funeral service will be held Friday, April 3, 2026, at 10 a.m. at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel in Scottsbluff, with Pastor Phil Parker officiating. Interment will be at the Bayard Cemetery. As Verna was an avid Huskers fan, the family requests that you wear Nebraska Cornhuskers attire to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Rock Church or to donor’s choice.

Born north of Bayard, NE, on September 24, 1929, to George and Gertrude (Simon) Blackburn, Verna was raised a farm girl and had an active childhood, riding horses and playing outside with her brothers, Leroy and Melvin. Whether it be a baseball game or ice skating, an Easter passion play or a Sunday picnic, the Red Willow community was a hopping, fun place for Verna to grow up. She took piano lessons in childhood and was involved in many school activities, like the band. She would often share stories of what it was like to live without electricity until she was 12.

After her graduation from Bayard High School, Verna taught school in a one-room schoolhouse south of Bayard, juggling more than 30 students in grades 1 through 8—another challenge she loved to tell stories about.

On December 24, 1947, she married Ken Korell. Theirs was a love story for the ages. They made a dashing, good-looking couple who found romance in ice skating on frozen ponds in the countryside and in the day-to-day joys and challenges of building their farm and ranch outside of Bayard. Ken adored Verna (whom he lovingly called “VJ” or “Honey”) and, together, they would become a staple in the farming community and in the churches they attended for the next 57 years, accumulating many, many friends.

Verna and Ken raised four active children—Kathy, Mark, Coleen, and Gail—and during those busy child-rearing years, Verna enjoyed teaching at summer Bible camp and Sunday School, actively participating in 4H events and the county fairs, and cheering on the local high school teams at sporting events of all kinds.

A gifted seamstress who sewed most of her children’s clothes, she almost always had a sewing project in the works and created dozens of elaborate, beautiful quilts, as well as outfits, pillows, and more. She was generous with her sewing creations, often giving them as gifts.

Verna was also an extremely creative and talented artist. She painted hundreds of oil paintings over the years, using all kinds of surfaces as her canvas—from traditional canvases to saws and antique irons. Often, her subject matter of choice was the local, historic Chimney Rock monument. Like the quilts that she sewed, she would give these beautiful paintings as gifts for weddings, graduations, and Christmas.

A prolific gardener, Verna had an enviable green thumb. For years on the farm, she grew a magnificent vegetable garden. She loved to use flowers and plants to make spaces beautiful, and she filled her home with them. She could make almost anything grow—both inside the house and out.

Verna loved life. She was fascinated by nature and enjoyed being outdoors. She dabbled in photography, learned to play golf, and traveled all over the United States with her husband. She was also an avid reader, as well as a devoted fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers (especially the volleyball team). She watched sports of all kinds and, most recently, enjoyed watching the Olympics.

As an excellent cook, Verna could host large get-togethers among the extended family with (seemingly) very little effort. She cherished time with her loved ones, especially her grandkids, who latched on to Ken’s “Honey” nickname for her, and the name stuck with her for the rest of her life.

Most importantly, she had a deep, close relationship with her savior Jesus Christ, and she read her Bible and prayed daily. It was common for visitors around “Honey’s” breakfast table to have to make room to eat around her Bible, which always lay open.

She was a lovely, wise woman with a quick, curious mind and a sharp wit—a matriarch for her family in every sense of the word. A picture of good health, she lived by herself until the very end. Her family is going to miss her in so many ways, but we are confident, through our faith in Christ, that we will be with her again in eternity.

Verna is survived by her children Mark (Nancy) Korell of Scottsbluff, NE; Coleen (Paul) Spinden of Westminster, CO; Gail Korell (Doug Brown) of Minneapolis, MN; son-in-law Gene Steiner of Kyle, TX; grandchildren Brad (Michele) Korell of Huron, SD; Brian (Julie) Korell of Lincoln, NE; Joy (Ryan) Moore of Buda, TX; Justin Steiner of Celina, TX; Cora Brown (Peter Crady) of Minneapolis, MN; and Aaron Brown (Anna Drexler) of Brooklyn, NY. She is also survived by eight great-grandchildren, Aleesa (Gary) Williams, Melady (Jonathon) Hofer, Austen (Sarah) Korell, Aden Korell, Ryley Moore, Isaac Korell (fiancée Laney Schmit), William Steiner, and Jackson Steiner, and three great-great-grandchildren (Sophia Hofer, Fallon Williams, and Olivia Hofer, plus one more coming in August), as well as several nieces and nephews and a host of friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Kenneth Korell, her daughter Kathy Steiner, her parents, and her brothers.