Wilma E. Kellogg

Wilma E. (Dankert) Kellogg, 102, a resident at the Central Nebraska Veterans Home, Kearney, NE, passed away on December 29, 2023, at the Veterans Home.  Apfel Funeral Home is serving the family.  Memorial services at Apfel Funeral Home and Inurnment in the Rose Hill Cemetery, Palmer, NE, will be at a later date.

Wilma was born on March 19,1921, in Merrick County Nebraska, the daughter of Frank C. and Anna Marie (Janssen) Dankert.  She graduated from Palmer High School in 1938, and from St Francis Hospital School of Nursing in 1942.  

Wilma entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps on September 9, 1944 – serving during WWII in the European Theatre, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Rhineland Battle.  She was honorably discharged as a 1st LT on March 7, 1946.

Wilma was united in marriage to Capt. John E. Kellogg on October 15, 1945, in Paris, France.  Afterwards they lived in Columbus, Wisconsin and Columbus, Nebraska.  They divorced and she returned to Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1958, with her children.

Wilma was active in the nursing profession her entire life and retired, in 1986, from the VA Medical Center in Grand Island after 28 years of service. 

Wilma was a faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Grand Island, a charter member of the Military Women’s Memorial, and a life member of the American Legion and the VFW.

Those left to cherish her memory are her children, daughter Christine (Dan) Wissing of Grand Island, son John (Barbara) Kellogg (Col, USAF, Ret) of Palmer, and daughter Elizabeth Williams, (USA, Ret) of Grand Island; four granddaughters, Kara (Joe) Morrow, Rebecca (Kurt) Kruger, Heather Williams (Ben Lutt), Sarah (Vince) Conanan; 10 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild; and 4 nieces and her nephew.  She was preceded in death by her parents, six brothers – John, Alvin, Lawrence, Louis, Gerhard, and Wesley, and one sister, Lillian Nietfeld.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Military Women’s Memorial, in Arlington, VA, or the Central Community College Women Veterans Scholarship in honor of Wilma Kellogg.