Eva Jolyne Ogier was born March 17, 1960, in Grant, Nebraska, to Garth Kenneth Ogier and Bethel Jolyne (Andrews) Ogier – the third of five children. In 1962, her family moved to a Sandhills ranch north of Hyannis. She and her siblings loved hunting for frogs in the wet meadows, playing with GI Joes in the blowouts, and hiding (for hours) under the auto gate on the gravel road – hoping a neighbor would drive across it!
Jolyne graduated from Hyannis High School in May 1977 and enrolled in Chadron State College, majoring in elementary education. On March 25, 1978, she married her high school sweetheart, Roy Lowell Westover, in Ogallala, Nebraska. While attending college, Calvin Kenneth and Kristi Kay were welcomed into the family. After graduation, Jolyne and Roy moved to his childhood home between Hyannis and Gordon to raise cattle, where two more children were born – Teri Jolyne, who died in infancy, and Kari Lynn.
One of Jolyne’s greatest passions was educating children, and she spent 25 years teaching in rural schools throughout Sheridan and Cherry counties. Known far and wide as an outstanding teacher and advocate for rural schools, ‘Mrs. Westover’ was near and dear to the hearts of both her students and their parents. Jolyne continued her own education with summer school and night classes, earning her Masters Degree in Administrative Education from CSC in 1999. In 2004, Jolyne took a job in Valentine as the Cherry County Rural School Principal, where she continued to impact the lives of children and extended her influence to mentor and lead teachers. In November 2011, when health complications forced her into early retirement, she found new ways to express her passion as she cultivated a love of learning and history in her grandchildren with many “field trip” vacations, countless bedtime story snuggles, helping to homeschool her grandchildren on the ranch, and tutoring weekly classes for their homeschool group.
Jolyne loved teddy bears and collected anything bear-related her entire adult life. Though she was the best cookie baker around, she was known as an excellent cook of most anything she tried her hand at. After retirement, she fed her passion for family and history by developing a love of scrapbooking – her favorite hobby - spending hours digging through memorabilia and telling stories of her heritage. Jolyne could be found yelling and cheering every time she could find a Huskers football game on the tv or radio. She was an avid reader and reserved every available space in her home for bookshelves, even having an in-home library for many years. Her books, however, had to share their space with her bears!
Teaching her about the love of God and His free gift of salvation, Jolyne credited her grandma Eva Jolyne Andrews for being the most spiritually influential person in her life. Jolyne was a valuable member of the Pleasant Point Community Church where she served on the Ladies Auxiliary and taught Awana, but most notably she directed the best Vacation Bible School program for miles around! She found great joy in teaching children about the love of Christ and has greatly influenced multiple generations.
Jolyne was no stranger to hospitals and illness as she fought a 15-year battle with multiple myeloma and won! She stumbled at times, but never stayed down for long as she battled through many rounds of chemo and two stem cell transplants. She celebrated remission from cancer for the second time in Feb 2021. After a two-month battle with multiple respiratory illnesses, Jolyne received complete and eternal healing on January 14, 2024, surrounded by her family in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Left to mourn her loss is her husband Roy; parents Garth and Bethel Ogier of Wallace; siblings Jim (JoAnn) Ogier of Schulyer, Ralph (Charlene) Ogier of Gothenburg, Nicki (Doug) Brennemann of Sutherland, and Rosalie (Wayne) Morgan of Azle, TX; siblings-in-law Corena (Bill) Ahrens of Chadron, Ron (Joanie) Johnson of Phoenix, AZ, and Joe Westover of Harrison; children Calvin Westover (Carrie Waterman) of Firth, Kristi (Ken) Patterson of North Platte, Kari (Nathan) Weidner of rural Ashby, and first daughter-in-law Jessica Westover of Hickman; grandchildren Breanna (Greg) Stoner, Derek, Shane and Tyler Patterson, Macy and Dylan Westover, Greyden, Griffyn and Gracelyn Weidner and many beloved aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Jolyne was preceded in death by her daughter Teri; parents-in-law Cal and Irene Westover; and sisters-in-law Abbie Westover and Nellie Johnson.
Services will be held at 10:00am on Friday, January 26, 2024, at Pleasant Point Community Church, 3444 State Hwy 27, Ellsworth, NE. Visitation will begin at 9:00am and dinner will immediately follow the service. Burial will be at the Gordon Cemetery at 1:00pm. The service will be live streamed at https://www.facebook.com/PleasantPointCommunityChurch for those unable to attend.