Wanda Yvonne Eaton

Wanda Yvonne (Blair) Eaton 

Age 93

(December 1929 – May 2023)

Wanda Y. Eaton, 93, of Papillion, NE passed away, Monday, May 1^st, 2023 with her husband of more than 71 years and family by her side at Hillcrest Grand Lodge in Papillion, NE.

Wanda Y. Eaton was born in Indianapolis, IN to Harry and Nellie Fae Blair. She spent her early life in the Indianapolis area, graduating from high school at age 16.

Wanda spent three years in the U.S. Air Force from 1948 to 1951 attaining the rank of Sergeant, with a highlight of her service selected to march in the inauguration parade of President Harry Truman in January 1949, as one of the first women in America’s newest military service.

She was united in marriage to Ted Eaton on September 21, 1951, at Hamilton Air Field, near San Francisco, CA. They travelled the world making their home and raising their family wherever the military assignments took them from California to Japan to Hawaii to Nebraska to Louisiana to Alaska and back to Nebraska, where Ted finally retired from the USAF in Bellevue in 1971. For nearly twenty years, she assisted Ted in managing a flower shop they owned and later on a liquor store. In 1989, she and Ted moved to Springport, IN to assist Wanda’s mother for several years before Nellie Fae Blair’s passing in 1998 at 99 ½ years old. After one Midwestern ice storm too many, they made a move to the warmth of the southwest to Sun City West, AZ in 2000 and ultimately, one last move back to Nebraska to be closer to family in September 2019.

Wanda converted before marriage and became a devoted member of the Catholic Church, where she supported the women’s groups everywhere they lived and most recently served as a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Sun City West. She was also an avid reader and for many years an accomplished cake decorator. She loved to garden, whether the acre of fruits and vegetables she hand-tended in Indiana or her beloved roses and fruit trees in Arizona. She spent many happy moments watching the hummingbirds feed at her feeders wherever she was living.

Left to cherish Wanda’s 93 years is her husband, Ted; her children: Barb Hidy, Trenton, NE; Cathey Rabbass, Judy Eaton and Joe Eaton, all of Bellevue, NE; Jeff Eaton of Anatone, WA; Mike (Jonie) Eaton of Alexandria, VA; and Greg (Linda) Eaton of Coeur d’Alene, ID; 10 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her older brother, Ladore “Laddie” Blair and one grandson, Joshua Piper.

“When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”

A Rosary and Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am, Monday, May 8^th, 2023, at St Matthew the Evangelist Catholic Church, 12330 South 36th Street, Bellevue with Fr. Leo Rigatuso presiding.  Inurnment will follow at the Omaha National Cemetery at 3:30 pm with Military Honors by the Offutt Air Force Base Honor Guard.

To view a live broadcast of the service, click on the link below.

https://boxcast.tv/view/wanda-yvonne-eaton-y1qebnyblscrwrqulosx

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Matthews Catholic Church of Bellevue, NE (https://stmatthewbellevue.org/) or the Alzheimer’s Association (http://www.alz.org).