Bessie Jean Rice

Bessie J. Rice, 76, of Columbus, formerly of North Loup, died Thursday, August 12, 2021, at Bryan Medical Center East Campus in Lincoln.

Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul. Pastor Daniel Bear will officiate. Burial will be in the Hillside Cemetery at North Loup.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Peters Funeral Home in St. Paul.

The funeral service will be livestreamed on Peters Funeral Home Facebook page. The direct link for that page is www.facebook.com/PetersFuneralHomeSP.

Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation.

Bessie was born on Sept. 10, 1944, at Muskogee, Oklahoma, the daughter of Leroy Robert and Lola Effie (Hayes) Sampson.

Bessie’s father worked in construction, so the family lived in various States and communities. The family lived in St. Paul for a time and Bessie attended St. Paul Public Schools.

She was united in marriage to Lynn D. Rice on Feb. 24, 1962, at Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul. The couple lived in North Loup, Ansley and St. Paul before returning to North Loup. Bessie was a homemaker and raised her eight children.

Lynn died May 3, 2011. She then moved to Ord and in 2013 she moved to Columbus, where she lived the rest of her life.

Bessie enjoyed canning, drawing, writing letters and collecting Indian dolls. She loved going for car rides to get ice cream and sent $2 bills to everyone on their birthday. She will be deeply missed by all her family.

She is survived by her children and spouses, David and Tami Rice of Osceola, Brenda and Antonio Martinez of Columbus, Denise and Hector Ramirez of Schuyler, Paula Perez of Richland, LeRoy and Kindle Rice of Callaway, Melody and Wilfrido Avila of Columbus, Lisa Rice of Richland and Pamela and Travis Moore of Columbus; 50 grandchildren, 90 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren; sisters, Lola Clement of Lincoln and Lillie and Glen Dierberger of Waverly; brother, Robert Sampson of Lincoln; and sisters-in-law, Eleanore Holzinger of Grand Island and Nancy Anderson of St. Paul.

In addition to her husband, Lynn, she was preceded in death by her parents; son-law, Martin Martinez; great-granddaughter, Julissa Martinez; brother, Ronnie Sampson; in-laws, Walter and Ruth (Richardson) Rice; and two brothers-in-law, Nick Clement and Leonard Holzinger.