Leatrice Mae (Armstrong) Behnk, 86, of Greeley, entered Heaven's gates on November 30, 2014.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 am Friday at the United Methodist Church in Greeley. Pastor Toni Nolze will officiate. Burial will be in the Greeley Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 pm Thursday at the church. Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home is serving the family.
Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation.
She was born in Brunswick, Nebraska on September 25, 1928, the oldest of six children born to Frank and Luella (Keetle) Armstrong. She grew up in rural Brunswick and graduated from Brunswick High School in 1945 at the young age of 16.
Sometime in February 1945 she met Adolph "Al" Behnk while he was on leave from the European Theatre of WWII. Al reported "being in love at first sight" and after the war ended he signed his discharge papers and headed to Brunswick, Ne to find her. Nearly a year later on February 18, 1946, Al & Leatrice married at high noon in Center, Nebraska.
They made their home for a short period in Hooper, Plainview and Orchard, Nebraska. In 1955 they bought a whole block and moved to Greeley, Nebraska. It is here they raised their three sons, Michael, Scott & Audie Jo. In 1973 Al and Leatrice achieved the lifelong dream of purchasing a farm of 160 acres northwest of Greeley. This is where they spent most of their married years.
Leatrice worked hard from a young age assisting her mother with raising her five siblings and doing housework for neighbors. Once married she was a homemaker, kept books for Behnk Construction, waitressed at the Green Door Café and was the head cook for the Greeley Care Home until retiring.
Leatrice was the foundation of the Behnk family. She was a devoted wife, mother, sister, daughter and grandparent. She enjoyed singing as a child and going to dances. She always had musical talent. As a mother she enjoyed teaching her eldest child Michael to sing, play musical instruments and dance. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed preparing meals for her family and making her signature cakes for her grandchildren's birthdays. She had a passion for genealogy and traced the ancestry on both sides of the family.  She looked forward to monthly visits at the Greeley Care Home from her devoted sisters Deanna and June.
Leatrice was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband of 58 years, Adolph F. Behnk, two sons, Scott Behnk and Audie Jo Behnk, a sister, Gay Harriman, and a great grandson, Michael Shane Behnk.
Leatrice is survived by one son, Michael F. Behnk; a foster son, Steve Rose; three sisters, Twila Neuwirth, June Wilgocki, and Deanna Kleider; one brother, Dan Armstrong and his wife Connie; two daughter-in-laws, Karen (Zwiener) Behnk and Gretchen (Marco) Behnk; five Grandsons, five granddaughters,      12 great grandsons, 16 great granddaughters, and one great great granddaughter.


Funeral services will be at 10:30 am Friday at the United Methodist Church in Greeley. Burial will be in the Greeley Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 pm Thursday at the church. Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home is serving the family.
Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation.