Jacqueline Dee Rundstrom

Jacqueline Dee (Buchanan) Rundstrom died on February 7, 2026 in Kearney, Nebraska. She was 84 years old, and her death came close on the heels of her husband, Ritch, who died exactly four weeks prior. They would have celebrated their 63rd anniversary on February 22nd. Born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 23, 1941, she grew up in the small mining town of Kittanning, Pennsylvania. Jackie moved to San Diego to live with her sister and finished high school there in the late 1950s. Although raised in the mountains, she found her happy place in southern California and was an ocean girl to the very end. Any year spent without experiencing the wide-open vistas of the ocean was a bit empty for her. Although she loved the people she knew in Nebraska, her heart always longed for the sea. Marriage to a husband whose high-flying job was based in New York meant Jackie had many opportunities to continue the independent lifestyle she found upon leaving her early home and heading west. While taking the lead in raising their three children and restoring the hundred-plus year-old family home in the Kenwood area she also remained active in the community. She was an early leader in the Goldenrod Girl Scout Council, sat on the City of Kearney Planning Commission, was elected to the Kearney Public School Board for several terms, opened and operated several businesses including the Microfilm Service Bureau and The Stripper (furniture refinishing…not exotic dancing), and managed multiple rental properties in Kearney. She was both respected and feared as a landlord– which one depended on the character of each tenant. The skills she developed in these endeavors made her something of a jack of all trades, and her wallpapering and painting prowess was particularly noteworthy. The herculean task of restoring and maintaining an historic home created many hilarious memories for family and friends alike, which will be cherished in her absence. Her search to furnish the home also led her to a love of antiques, and her final business endeavor as an antiques dealer. Through it all she was a voracious reader, an incredible gardener, cook, baker, mother, and friend. She leaves behind two daughters, Amy Rundstrom of Amherst and Katherine (Rundstrom) Armstrong of Lincoln, and two grandchildren, Clement and Lila Armstrong of Lincoln. She was preceded in death by her husband Charles and their son Christopher, whose death broke her heart, as well as her parents Lila and John Buchanan, and her sister Carole, all of whom died in the 1960s. As she requested, there will be no services, but if anyone would like to send a memorial to the Kearney Area Humane Society in her name, she would have liked that.

Tributes

Jacqueline Dee Rundstrom

October 23, 1941 - February 7, 2026