Hildegard W Schwan

Hildegard Wilhelmina Shoenrock, 91, of Omaha, Nebraska passed away peacefully in her home, in the early hours of May 19, 2026. She was a cherished friend, Mother and Aunt and she will be missed by all who knew her. Hildegard was born on April 14, 1935, delivered in a farmhouse 4 miles west and 2 miles south of Fairbury, Nebraska.

She was the third child of John T. Schoenrock and his wife Anna (Goeking), and had older siblings Ted and Elfriede. Hilde was baptized at East Gladstone Evangelical Church and later confirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in Daykin, Nebraska. She worked hard on the farm with her family and prospered because of it. Her stories of childhood were of outdoor fun with her brother Ted and learning music and crafts with her sister Elfriede.

Her best friends from School days were Verda Norte, Esther Jordening, Valoris Meyer, Jeanne Schmitt and Ruth Bartels. She graduated Salutatorian of her class in Daykin in 1952 and went on to Fairbury Junior College classes to obtain her teaching certificate. After five years of teaching in One Room Schools, Hilde "decided to fulfill her ambition to be an Airline Stewardess, now known as Flight Attendant". Hilde enrolled in the National School of Aeronautics in Kansas City and then started her career in the airlines with North Central Airlines in South Bend, Indiana.

In South Bend, she met her Husband Clarence Bennett, who worked with the Federal Aviation Administration, and they were married in Fairbury in 1959. Clarence was transferred to Omaha in 1963 and so Hilde taught school north of Omaha for another year in Elk City, Nebraska. Hilde got on with United Airlines in 1965, and had a marvelous 32-year career with that fine airline and the wonderful group of people who worked there. Hilde did everything from the door of the airport to the door of the airplane, even sometimes driving the Jetway up to bump the planes (this part always made her terrible nervous). Benefits from the Airlines allowed Hilde and Clarence to enjoy many trips and travel all over the world.

Hilde and Clarence tried for kids and were not blessed for a while, and then after they had sort of given up, they were surprised to find out Hilde was expecting and they then had their son Corbin in May of 1972. Her life was full and fun raising her son with her husband, working with wonderful folks at United, gardening and canning veggies, and making crafts and plum butter and elderberry jelly. Hilde's favorite activities included sewing and reading and playing cards, particularly pitch.

Her husband Clarence passed in 1998 and after a few years she crossed paths with an old friend of her brother Ted, Dick Schwan. Dick had recently lost his wife Marge also, and the two began to get coffee together and go to the casino. Dick said "if we spend this much time together, we better get married", and so they did just that. I don't think either of them ever thought to have a second marriage, but they both found they needed it and loved every minute of it. Hilde and Dick moved to Daykin to be next-door neighbors to Elfriede and her husband Melvin, but only got to be neighbors with them for a short time. They lived another decade and more in Daykin though and had a marvelous time watching family prosper and traveling all over the nation in their fifth wheel camper.

Dick passed in 2016 and in the later part of that year Hilde moved in with her son Corbin in Omaha. Hilde and Corbin had a very nice run as roommates and got to visit many, many, family get-togethers.

Hildegard is preceded in death by her husbands, Clarence Bennett and Richard Schwan; parents John and Anna Schoenrock; brother Ted Schoenrock; and sister Elfriede Kleine.

She is survived by her son, Corbin Bennett; and many beloved nieces, nephews, and other family.

VISITATION Thursday, May 28, from 1-2pm with MEMORIAL SERVICE at 2pm at Good Shepherd Funeral Home - L St Chapel. Memorials may be directed to the family. See www.gsfuneral.com for complete details.