Madalen (Maddie) Petrow died in her home on Saturday, January 12, 2013, after a brief illness.
Maddie was born on November 21, 1919, in West Point, Nebraska. She was the youngest of John and Mary Ortmeier's six children. She was raised in West Point and graduated from Guardian Angel High School in 1936. After graduation, Maddie had a variety of jobs, including work at the Cuming County Couthouse and, until the end of World War II, for the contractors who built the defense plant in Mead, Nebraska. After the war, Maddie worked in the Rent Control Office in Fremont, Nebraska, during which time she met her future husband, Jack Petrow, then working as a soda jerk at Petrow's Cafe in Fremont. She married Jack in Fremont on June 24, 1947, which she said was the happiest day of her life. In 1968, she began a second career as a legal secretary, working at the law firm of Vrana & Gless and its successor firms, including the Law Offices of Leo Eske, until her retirement. Afterwards, Maddie did volunteer work, including at St. Patrick's Church and the Red Cross Blood Mobile.
Maddie is survived by her son, George Petrow (wife Cynthia) of London, England, granddaughters, Lucy, Eleni and Madeline, and Beverly Rosenbaum of Fremont, whom she came to think of as a daughter. She was preceded in death by her husband and a daughter Julie.
A Memorial has been established to the Jack Petrow Memorial Scholarship Fund at Archbishop Bergen Central Catholic High School.
Memorial service at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, March 22, 2013 at 3:30pm.


Dugan Funeral Chapel
4502-721-2880

Funeral services at St. Patrick's Catholic Church will be announced at a later date.