Memorials › Nancy Kay Seeman
Nancy Kay Seeman
16 Jul 1963 – 10 Nov 1984
| Birth | 16 Jul 1963 |
| Death | 10 Nov 1984 |
| Cemetery | Saint Michael Cemetery West Point , Cuming County , Nebraska , USA |
| Added by | John Glynn on 02 Nov 2025 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156065677 |
Bio
================================================================ Omaha World-Herald, 12 Nov 1984, page 13 FRIENDSHIPS, LIVES SHATTERED IN TRAGEDY ON ICY HIGHWAY Jane Ortmeier and Nancy Seeman met a few years ago when they lived on the same dormitory floor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Magdalen Seeman, Miss Seeman's mother, said they became good friends and, earlier this year, became roommates, sharing an apartment about seven blocks from the UNL campus. The circle of friends included Maureen Chapman and Rhonda Benne, both of Fremont, and LeAnne Kolbet and Kathleen Kehoe, both of Hastings. All were 21-year-old students at UNL. Miss Chapman, Miss Benne and Miss Kolbet share an apartment in the same complex where Miss Seeman and Miss Ortmeier lived. "It sounded like they were pretty good friends," Mrs. Seeman said. They were "just a bunch that liked to be together." Saturday morning, the six were on their way to Lawrence, Kan., to attend the Kansas-Nebraska football game. The car in which they were riding, driven by Miss Ortmeier, skidded on ice near Cortland, Neb, and was hit broadside by a pickup truck carrying an elderly Beatrice couple. Miss Ortmeier and Miss Seeman were killed, along with Irene DeRykee, 66, a passenger in the truck. The other women and Mrs. DeRyke's husband, Francis, 69, were injured. ENJOYED SCHOOL Mrs. Seeman said Monday that her daughter would have graduated from the university in May. She said here daughter, a senior computer science major, had been interviewing for jobs recently. She enjoyed school and studied hard, Mrs. Seeman said. She had been on the dean's list several times, she said, and had a 4.0 grade point average during the spring semester and in the summer. Though she worked hard, her daughter still found time to be with her friends and family, Mrs. Seeman said. "She enjoyed life," she said. "She had a great sense of humor. She was always having a good time even though she was very studious. Mrs. Seeman said her family recently moved to Lincoln from West Point. She said her daughter visited when she could. "She didn't have a car all the time. When she did have a car, she came out quite often." Mrs. Seeman said her three sons, Martin, Merle and Jim, also attended UNL. She said they saw Nancy often. For the Seeman family, Nancy's death was the second loss the family has had to endure because of a traffic accident. In 1966, Mrs.Seeman said , her son John was killed near West Point as he was returning home from work. Miss Ortmeier, Miss Chapman and Miss Benne grew up together in Fremont, said Brad Ortmeier, the younger brother of the dead woman. They attended UNL together and shared an apartment during their sophomore year, he said. He said his sister had recently gotten an internship at a Lincoln accounting firm in preparation for receiving her accounting degree. "She was doing really good in school," Ortmeier said. David Haldeman lived in the apartment next door to the one Miss Seeman and Miss Ortmeier shared. He said he attended a summer class with Miss Seeman and had gone on a date with Miss Ortmeier Friday night. "We saw each other in the hallway occasionally," he said. "They were both real nice." Haldeman said he spoke with the women Saturday morning about 6 a.m. as they prepared to leave for Lawrence. "I knew they were really excited about the game. They didn't know if they were going to get to go, because of the weather." FAIR CONDITION A spokesman for Lincoln General Hospital, where the injured were taken by rescue squads, said Monday Miss Kehoe was in critical condition with a leg fracture and internal injuries. Miss Chapman and Miss Benne were in fair condition with chest injuries and fractured ribs. Miss Kolbet, who suffered a sprained pelvis and spine, was listed in good condition. The spokesman said DeRyke was in fair condition, after suffering a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone. Trooper David Morris, who investigated the accident for the Nebraska State Patrol, said the DeRykes, who both were retired, apparently were on their way to visit DeRyke's sister-in-law. Morris said he was uncertain where the sister-in-law lives. Morris said the accident occurred 1.3 miles north of Cortland on Highway 77, near the Lancaster-Gage County line, about 20 miles south of Lincoln in Lancaster County. Morris said investigators were listing the icy conditions of the road and the possible involvement of alcohol as contributing factors. He said troopers found 36 cans of bear, both open and unopened, inside the young women's car. He said blood alcohol tests were ordered on both drivers. Morris said the ice apparently formed from moisture in the air and snow blowing across the roadway. Morris said the car, a 1979 Ford Granada, slid out of control and was struck broadside on the passenger side by the 1973 Chevrolet pickup. "They were sliding sideways when the car crossed over into the northbound lane and was struck by the front of the pickup truck," he said. "I talked to one of the girls who said they started to slide to the west when the driver applied the brakes, and they started to slide sideways." He said none of the eight people apparently was wearing a seat belt. He said all three of the women killed were pronounced dead at the scene from massive internal and head injuries. Morris said a southbound bus carrying fans to the Nebraska football game apparently was one of the first vehicles to come upon the accident. PASSING MOTORIST Passengers in the bus and in a van that also stopped provided first aid and assistance to the victims until rescue personnel arrived, he said. The accident was reported by a passing motorist who drove to Cortland and telephoned 911 in Lincoln, said David Niemeyer, fire chief for the Cortland Fire Department. ================================================================ Omaha World-Herald, 20 Nov 1984, page 36 BLOOD TESTS SHOW DRIVER HAD NOT BEEN DRINKING The driver of a car carrying six University of Nebraska-Lincoln students had not been drinking before a fatal crash Nov. 10 on U.S. 77, according to blood tests announced Monday. Joe Kelly, assistant Lancaster County attorney, said test showed no alcohol in the bloodstream of Jane Ortmeier. She was driving the car when it went out of control and was struck by a northbound pickup. State Patrol officers said they found 36 cans of beer in the car but said icy conditions caused the accident. Kelly said that blood tests had been completed on the three people killed in the crash and that none of the tests showed any evidence of alcohol in the blood. Blood test results in others in the accident were not expected to reach Kelly's office until later in the week, he said. Kelly said the final reports have been slow coming into his office because no prosecutions have been planned. Miss Ortmeier and Nancy Seeman, both 21, were killed when the car they were in with four other students on their way to the Nebraska-Kansas game hit an icy spot on U.S. 77 just north of Cortland, Neb. One of the passengers in the pickup, Irene DeRyke, 66, was also killed in the crash. ================================================================
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