She attended Verdon schools, graduating from Verdon High School in 1957, one of 17 in her graduating class. She played on the volleyball team and in the marching band, but was most famously a member of the Six Fugitives, along with her sister Martha and her best friend, Julie Bowers (Wiltse).
It was during a multi-school marching band practice that she caught the eye of a young man from Salem, Nebraska, William Andrew (Bill) Browne Jr. It may have been her looks that first caught his attention, but it was her giggle that sealed the deal, and it was her giggle that endeared her to everyone she met for the rest of her life.
Elaine attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after high school, joining Chi Omega sorority, to which she was a loyal member her whole life. She paused her education when she married Bill on Aug. 15, 1959 at St. Paul’s. Bill was a student at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, which is where they set up their first home in a duplex near NWU.
On Jan. 13, 1961, Elaine gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Cynthia (Cindy) Kay Browne Schmidt, who was followed on Jan. 25, 1962 by Jeffrey (Jeff) William Browne. Five days before Jeff’s birth, Bill, Elaine and Cindy moved into their home on Terrace Road in Lincoln.
Elaine learned how to drive in the early 1960s so she could cart around her children and take herself shopping, where she purchased the raw materials that turned into so many delicious baked goods. She learned to bake with her mother and her maternal grandmother, Martha Biermann, and she shared that love and skill with her younger sisters and Cindy, who carry on that tradition.
In addition to her baking prowess, Elaine planted and harvested bounteous gardens at her homes, most notably at Bill and Elaine’s house on Park Crest Court in Lincoln. Her tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables made their way into the countless meals she prepared for her family and others, and they also made great gifts for those who visited in the summer and early fall. Her flowers brightened the yard, garden and Bill and Elaine’s home.
Elaine cherished family get-togethers around all holidays, but she especially loved the Christmas season and the family traditions at “The Home Place” in Verdon as well as traditions she created for her children in Lincoln. Later in life, her nieces and nephews became her “honorary grandchildren,” and she celebrated their successes, their graduations and marriages, and their own children. And she mourned the loss of those taken too young.
She was also an active member of Faith Lutheran Church in Lincoln her entire adult life, participating in the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and participating in bible study groups and prayer circles nearly every week.
In the mid-1970s, the family moved to their home on Rockhurst Drive in Lincoln, and Elaine returned to UNL to complete her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She immediately went to work as a substitute grade-school teacher in the Lincoln Public Schools, where she served for over 30 years. She had a particular affection for Meadow Lane Elementary, the school her children attended in the 1960s and early ‘70s.
Survivors include her husband, Bill, of Lincoln; her daughter, Cindy, and her husband, Michael L. Schmidt, of Lincoln; her son, Jeff and his wife, Susannah G.K. Neal of Iowa City, Iowa; her sisters Martha J. Owens of Elwood, Nebraska, Marie D. Parsons of Falls City, Nebraska, and Pamela K. Fritz of Spencer, Louisiana; her brothers Louis J. Fritz of Verdon and Philip D. Fritz of Verdon; and her beloved nieces and nephews and their families. All have been
She was preceded in death by her parents, and brothers Eugene E. Fritz and Lyle K. Fritz.
Funeral Service: 10:30 am. Thursday (11-18-21) Faith Lutheran Church, 8701 Adams Street. Graveside service will be 3:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, Falls City. NE.
Visitation with family present will be from 6:30-8:00 pm Wednesday at Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel, 3950 Hohensee Drive.
Memorials to Faith Lutheran Church Building Fund, Lincoln or St. Paul Lutheran Church, Falls City, NE.