Doris O. (Preuss) Gellerman

Doris O. (Jostes) Gellerman, age 94, Fort Wayne, Indiana fell asleep in the arms of Jesus Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, at Lutheran Life Villages after a brief illness. Born August 22, 1925, in rural Madison, Nebraska, she was the daughter of the late William, Sr., and Olga Preuss. Doris was baptized into the Christian faith on September 27, 1925, at St. John Lutheran Church (Green Garden), Madison, Nebraska. She loved to sew, quilt, garden, attend Bible study and volunteer at various charities.

She worked in the Madison County (Nebraska) Courthouse for a time during the 1940s, and liked to recall when WWII ended and she and a co-worker, Margaret Schmidt (the future Mrs. George Blank), went downtown to enjoy the victory celebration.

Doris was worked part-time as a reporter for the Madison (Nebraska) Star-Mail and later for the Norfolk (Neb.) Daily News until Leonard’s work transferred him from Madison to Seward, Neb., in 1967. Leonard died in 1971. Returning to Madison for ten years in 1987, Doris and her second husband, Ray Gellerman, were members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison. Doris helped attend to her parents’ needs at Countryside Manor in Madison and worked for a time as church secretary at Trinity Lutheran.

Surviving are her children and their spouses, Richard (Laura) Jostes of St. Louis, Missouri, Janet (James) Luepke of Fort Wayne, Douglas Jostes of Fort Wayne, Kristen (Scot) Rockwell of Prescott, Arizona, sister, Darlene (Preuss) Freudenburg of Madison, Nebraska, brother William (Judith) Preuss, Jr., of Seward, Nebraska, sister-in-law Eva Jane (Gellerman) and Bud Schwab, Springfield, Missouri, five grandchildren, and 15 nieces and nephews and their families. Doris was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ramon (“Ray”) Gellerman, and her first husband, Leonard Jostes, sister and brother-in-law, Norma Jean (Preuss) and Frank Wells, brother-in-law, Earl Freudenburg, sister-in-law Eileen (Gellerman) Borchers and her husband Arnold, brother-in-law, Raymond Jostes and his wife, Agnes, sister-in-law Elvira (Jostes) Schrant and her husband, Joe, and nephew Clem Schrant.

A graveside memorial service will be held at a later date in Syracuse, Nebraska for family members.

Memorials may be made to the Holy Cross Lutheran School, Fort Wayne, Ind., Orphan Grain Train, Norfolk, Neb., Concordia University, Seward, Neb., or donor’s choice.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Doris O. (Preuss) Gellerman, please visit our floral store.