Kathy Tellus

Katherine Jo (Stewart) Tellus of Cambridge, Nebraska, passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s on Friday, January 31st, 2025, at Good Samaritan Society Nursing Home in Bloomfield, Nebraska. She was seventy-six years old.

Kathy was born on April 8th, 1948, to Betty Jo (Brooks) Stewart and Harlan Stewart in Denver, Colorado, where Harlan was working in the lumber business. After relocating as a child to Cambridge, Nebraska, Kathy received all her education at Cambridge Public School. One of the joys of young Kathy’s life was being a Campfire Girl. She was also proud to work at the Bartley Hotel, which was owned by her paternal grandparents Everett and Ethel (Beeson) Stewart. Kathy additionally loved spending time with her cousins on an Indianola farm owned by her maternal grandparents Albert (Bud) and Lola (Crampton) Brooks.

Kathy met her husband Jimmy Lee Tellus at Cambridge High School. The high school sweethearts wed on Kathy’s nineteenth birthday, April 8th, 1967.

After graduating from Cambridge High School, Kathy’s husband Jim attended and graduated from technical college in Milford, Nebraska, and then joined the Army. Accompanying her husband, the young couple was stationed overseas in Frankfurt, Germany. It was in Germany that Kathy welcomed the birth of their first child, daughter Kimberly Tellus.

After the Army, Jim and Kathy relocated back to Cambridge where they welcomed the birth of their second child, son Jason Tellus. A devoted and loving mother, Kathy also sold Avon products for over twenty years, worked at daycare, and was a member of American Legion Auxiliary and the Christian Women’s Club. She was an avid dog lover, especially for her past retrievers Heidi and Amber, and her current Golden Doodle Lucy.

Kathy’s interests were many and varied. She loved cars, especially classic cars, and could tell you the make and model of nearly every car that she saw. She enjoyed scrapbooking, painting ceramics, and decorating her home. She took calligraphy classes and cake decorating classes. Kathy liked to collect Country Cousins, bird houses, and especially stuffed bunnies. Kathy loved to read magazines and was always sending family and friends cards or letters included with interesting articles that she had read. Kathy was a huge fan of country music, especially Alan Jackson and Randy Travis. Perhaps more than anything else, Kathy loved to socialize whether with her friends in person or on the phone, or with complete strangers that she met locally or while traveling. Kathy visited forty-nine states with her husband.

When Kathy’s husband Jim retired, they opened Medicine Creek Laser Crafts and enjoyed their time serving the community as small business owners in Cambridge.

Kathy was preceded in death by her husband Jimmy Lee Tellus of Cambridge, NE; her parents Harlan Stewart and Betty Jo (Brooks) Stewart of Cambridge, NE; her maternal grandparents Albert (Bud) Brooks and Lola (Crampton) Brooks of Indianola, NE; and her paternal grandparents Everett and Ethel (Beeson) Stewart of Bartely NE. Surviving Kathy are her daughter Kimberly Tellus and her husband Anthony Rainone of Brooklyn NY; son Jason Tellus and his wife Jamie (Frerichs) Tellus of Yankton, SD; her grandchildren Elaine Sudbeck and her husband Jacob Sudbeck of Yankton, SD; Benjamin Tellus of Sioux Falls, SD; and Rebecca Tellus and her partner Auston Naber of Mission Hill, SD; her great-grandchildren Owen Sudbeck, Journey Sudbeck and Myles Sudbeck of Yankton , SD; Antonio Alvarez of Mission Hill, SD; her sister Debra (Stewart) Kratochvil and her husband Randy Kratochvil of Kearney, NE; brother-in-law Chuck Tellus and his wife Dixie (Moseley) Tellus of Holbrook, NE; brother-in-law Steve Tellus and his wife Michelle (Weber)Tellus of Holdrege, NE; and sister-in-law Joann Carpenter of Denver, CO; numerous nephews, nieces and grandnephews, grandnieces spread throughout the country.

Kathy’s passing will leave an indelible gap in all their lives, but loving memories – especially her smile and laugh - will endure forever.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10:00 AM on Friday morning, February 7th, 2025 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Cambridge with Bill Weaver officiating. Burial in the Fairview Cemetery of Cambridge will follow services. Kathy's family will greet friends from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM at the church prior to services.

Memorials are suggested to the family of Kathy Tellus for future designation. Online condolences may be left at lockenour.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Lockenour-Jones Mortuary of Cambridge.