Hazel C. Pharris

Hazel Claire Pharris, 97, of Cozad, Nebraska, passed away July 24, 2022, at Emerald Nursing & Rehab, Cozad, Nebraska. Immediately prior to that she resided at Meadowlark Pointe Assisted Living in Cozad.

Hazel was born as Hazel Claire Danquist on May 9, 1925 at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, a small town located just 27 miles south of the Canadian Border on the Kootenai River. The town had developed around a trading post and ferry established in the early 1870s by pioneers to the Pacific Northwest. Hazel attended the University of Idaho up until she married Earl R. Pharris on July 10, 1949 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, with whom she was married to for the rest of her life. Hazel then worked at the University of Idaho until her husband graduated from the school.

Hazel and her husband moved to Missoula, Montana for his first job after he graduated from the University of Idaho. They subsequently moved to Portland, Oregon where her husband went to work for Armour & Company. Hazel and her husband then moved to Cozad, Nebraska in 1955, where they lived out the rest of their lives with family and friends. Her husband managed the Armour & Company feedlot just east of Cozad for 18 years. Hazel was a homemaker and mother to her and her husband’s three sons.

Hazel was a Cub Scout Den Mother; a 4-H Club mom; a member of PEO; a member of the American Lutheran Church and the Church’s Circle; a supporter of all of her husband’s community and state activities; a supporter of all of her sons’ school, athletic, and extra-curricular activities; a member of several bridge clubs; an early member of the Cozad Women’s Bowling Association; a President of the Cozad Women’s Golf Association; and an avid Husker Football fan. Her hobbies included sewing, knitting, quilting, and golf. Hazel dearly loved to travel both within and outside the United States.

Hazel will be remembered as an extremely kind, caring, sweet, and friendly woman who always did her best to help others in need of her skills and services and always tried to make everyone around her happy. That was always of utmost importance to her, and truly defined her as a person. The word “No” did not exist in her vocabulary whenever asked to do something for others. She routinely volunteered for tasks at the American Lutheran Church and delivered “Meals on Wheels” to people in need of such assistance. For these reasons, she is to be missed by many and not soon forgotten by all those who came in contact with her.

Hazel is survived by her three sons, John, Robert, and Jeff Pharris; her daughter-in-law, Joni (Klein) Pharris; her six grandchildren, Caleb Pharris, Jordan Pharris, Joshua Pharris, Madeline (Pharris) Bannister, Jared Pharris and Jordann Pharris; and two great grandchildren, Della Bannister and Weston Pharris.

In lieu of flowers or other memorials to Hazel, the family requests that donations be made to the Hazel C. Pharris Memorial Fund established at Waypoint Bank, Cozad, Nebraska, all of the proceeds of which will be donated to organizations and/or charities in Cozad, Nebraska, the town and people of which Hazel loved the most in the whole world and devoted her life to.

A Memorial Service for Hazel will be held at 11:00 A.M. CDT on Saturday, August 13, 2022, at the American Lutheran Church in Cozad, Nebraska, with Pastor Kathy Gundell officiating. A lunch will be served by women of the Church in the Fellowship Hall of the Church after the Memorial Service.

Hazel chose cremation as her method of burial. Inurnment will be prior to the Memorial Service at 9:30 A.M. CDT at the Cozad Cemetery, 42255 Road 761, just east of town. Hazel will be laid to rest next to her husband, where she has always wanted to be. Those wishing to sign the Memorial Book may do so any day prior to the Memorial Service at the Berryman Funeral Home, which is in charge of the inurnment and memorial arrangements, or at the Memorial Service itself. Online thoughts, remembrances, stories, experiences, and condolences may be shared at berrymanfuneralhome.com and are very much welcomed by the family.