Irene M. Kozisek

Irene Kozisek, 69, of Brainard, passed away Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Omaha.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 8, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Brainard with Fr. Steven Snitily officiating. Visitation will be on Sunday, from 5 until 7 p.m. at the Church with a Parish Rosary at 7 p.m. Burial will be at Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery with lunch following at the Klein Center. Chermok Moravec Johnson Mortuary is handling arrangements for Irene's family.

Memorials may be directed to: Family Wishes or Masses.
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Irene M. Kozisek was born on July 7, 1954, to Alois B. Kozisek and Lorraine E. (Piitz) Kozisek at the David City hospital in David City, Nebraska. She was almost a “firecracker”. She lived by Surprise until she was 5 years old and then moved to Brainard, Nebraska. She attended Holy Trinity Catholic School from kindergarten to eighth grade and then went to East Butler High School in Brainard, graduating in 1972.
She started her first job October 1972 at the Farmer’s Union Co-op Oil Association, and then merged with Farmers Co-op, now Frontier Co-op. She worked there for 51 years and 5 months. She worked in the accounting department and more recently the energy department at Frontier Co-op and retired February 2024.

She has four siblings: Bernard, Darlene, LuAnn, and Emma Rose. She has eleven nieces and nephews, and nineteen great nieces and nephews who she considered and loved like they were her own children. She attended many of their activities, including football, basketball, volleyball, summer ball, and soccer games, as well as many concerts. Irene also had three special dogs over the years: Queenie, Brownie, and Benny. Her hobbies were vegetable gardening, flower gardens, and feeding the birds. She loved the color purple and her green Pontiacs. Irene enjoyed Halloween and the trick-or-treating, but especially the tricks. She relaxed in nature by fishing and loved a good fish story. She went to local auctions and if there were boxes with Mother Mary statues, she would always buy them so she could “rescue Mary”. She always enjoyed trying out new recipes and sometimes tested them out on siblings and nephews and nieces and great nieces and nephews. She loved cardinals and enjoyed her collection. Birthdays, sacraments, and family celebrations like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were very important to Irene. She ended every card and conversation with "Love Ya".

She was in the Holy Trinity Choir for many years, sang alto, and had a talent for hearing the alto part and singing it. She was a Light of the World Retreat Leader, doing retreats in Brainard, Bellwood, and Benkelman. She was the leader of Holy Trinity Lights, a group started after the Light of the World Retreat. They had 7 members and studied a lot of different topics on the Catholic faith. You would be surprised when 7 people share the same faith but interprets their faith differently. The group learned a lot and gained insight into the Catholic faith. Irene was lucky she grew up with loved ones around her who were all Catholic and Christian. She thanked God every day for her faith. It was truly a blessing from God and her parents. She was also close to many friends, many of her cousins and their children, who were special to her in her life.

She is survived by her siblings: Bernard (Annie) Kozisek of Brainard, Darlene Kucera of Brainard, LuAnn Hofpar of Dwight, and Emma Rose (Doug) McGee of Brainard, nieces and nephews: Ranae Smith of Yutan, Greg (Megan) Kozisek of Brainard, Christopher Kucera of Brainard, Wendy (Mark) Tvrdy of Ceresco, Michael (Kris) Kucera of Raymond, David Kucera of Sidney, Laura (Craig) Meysenburg of Lincoln, Linda (Zach) Wetovick of Lincoln, Michael Hofpar of Omaha, Bradley (Lydia) McGee of David City, and Lisa (Trevor) Scoville of David City, great nieces and great nephews: Jay and Lynn Smith, Reese and Grant Kozisek, Scott, Rosalie, Julianne, Allyson, and Brett Tvrdy, Mattie, Preston, and Carly Kucera, Colin, Natalie, Morgan, and Rachel Meysenburg, Cooper Wetovick, Hayden McGee, and Liam Scoville, and many cousins.

She is preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, former brother-in-law Ed Kucera and brother-in-law, Kenny Hofpar.

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