Genevieve F. (Dillon) Lackaff

Genevieve Florence (Dillon) Lackaff was born on her parents’ cattle ranch in rural Brown County to J. Hall and Florence (Hughes) Dillon on May 24, 1925, and died at Rock County Hospital Long-Term Care in Bassett, Nebraska, on August 8, 2021. Her one sibling was her brother, Kenneth, six and a half years older.
Genny attended Long Pine High School where her favorite subjects were mathematics and Latin. After graduating in 1942, she taught at Paramount School in southern Brown County—the same country school that she and both of her parents had attended—before going on to receive her Associate’s Degree in Education at the University of Nebraska. In college, she took several home economics classes and especially enjoyed tailoring, using that skill to create her own satin wedding dress and many beautiful outfits for her children.
Genevieve and Richard T. Lackaff were married at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Long Pine, Nebraska, on November 22, 1947, with the Rev. R. F. Barry officiating. They built a new ranch house on the site of Richard’s boyhood home, the tree claim in central Rock County acquired by his immigrant ancestor J.P. Lackaff. Their daughter, Deänna Susan Lackaff, was born December 7, 1948, and their son, Richard Hall Lackaff, was born September 3, 1952. Genevieve augmented her children’s country school education with visits to the Rock County Library and trips to city museums while supporting their many extra-curricular activities, particularly projects with the Go Getters 4-H Club.
After her children left home for college, Genevieve served as president of the Nebraska CowBelles (later the Nebraska Cattle Women) and became a member of the executive committee of the American National CowBelles. She polished her organizational abilities with a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. Her beef promotion efforts culminated in chairing the 1979 National Beef Cook-Off in Omaha for which she recruited Julia Child and meat-cutting cookbook author Merle Ellis as judges. In the 1990s, Genny traveled to Europe with the People-to-People program as an agricultural ambassador representing the United States.
Genevieve greatly enjoyed greeting people (especially babies and children) and decorating the lobby and dining rooms for holidays when her husband, Richard, took over management of the Bassett Lodge and Range Café from his parents, Floyd and Maude Lackaff. She was fortunate to spend her final years as a resident of Rock County Hospital Long-Term Care, an excellent hometown facility.
Genevieve Lackaff was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother, and sisters-in-law Marcella (Mengers) Dillon and Roberta (Lewis) Dillon. She is survived by daughter Deänna Lackaff and husband Michael Gilligan of Minneapolis, Minnesota; son Richard H. Lackaff, DVM, and wife Lora (Beckley) Lackaff of Bassett, Nebraska; grandchildren Derek Lackaff and wife Angela Wacker of Burlington, North Carolina, Anna Lackaff and husband Aaron Santos of Indianola, Iowa, Caleb Lackaff and wife Macey (Moore) Lackaff of Bassett, Adam Lackaff-Gilligan and wife Eliza Alexander of Minneapolis, and Kevin Gilligan and wife Jennifer (Tate) Gilligan of Austin, Texas; great-grandsons Oscar Wacker Lackaff of Burlington and Leo Hall Lackaff of Bassett; nieces and nephews Marcia (Dillon) and S. William Whitson, Sydney (Dillon) and Carrol Voss, Bradford and Connie Dillon, Rodney Dean and Deb Dillon, Sean and Karen Dillon, John and Michelle Dillon; step-niece and nephew Jeannie (Morrow) Keim and Rick Morrow; and numerous great-nieces and nephews

A Private Graveside Memorial Service for Genevieve F. Lackaff will be held on Saturday, (August 14, 2021) in the Grandview Cemetery at Long Pine. Genevieve Lackaff died Sunday (August 8, 2021) in the Rock County Hospital Long Term Care in Bassett.

In lieu of flowers, memorials have been suggested to the Long Pine Rural Fire Department or Rock County Hospital Long Term Care Facility in her name.

Hoch Funeral Home of Bassett is in charge of arrangements.