Carmen T Peetz

Funeral Service for Carmen Peetz, age 92 of Neligh, Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February, 26, 2026 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Neligh, Nebraska with Father John Norman, officiating. Burial will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Neligh, Nebraska. Prior to the Funeral Service there will be a parish Rosary held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, February 26, 2026 at the church. Beyer Snider Memorial Funeral Home of Neligh will be handling the arrangements. Carmen passed away February 18, 2026 at Antelope Memorial Hospital in Neligh. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.snidermemorial.com

In lieu of flowers memorials are asked to be given to Birth Right in Norfolk.

Karmena Terese (Carmen T. Peetz) was born on June 18, 1933, in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania, to Ona Kreivenas and Jonas Kreivenas. She spent her early childhood on a family farm alongside her siblings: her older brother, Jonas Mindaugas Kreivenas (deceased), and her sisters, Roma Ona Dambrauskas and Gema Marija Kreivenas.

In September 1940, Carmen’s childhood was abruptly altered when her father was imprisoned by Communist authorities and sentenced to a Siberian labor camp. During this time, Carmen, while still quite young, lovingly and responsibly helped care for her siblings while her mother supported the family through her work as a teacher.

In 1944, as Russian occupation intensified, the family fled Lithuania. Traveling by horse and wagon, they crossed former East Prussia and Poland, eventually reaching Berlin. From there, they were transferred to a Displaced Persons camp in Scheinfeld, Germany where they lived from 1945 to 1949.

In April 1949, the family immigrated to the United States and settled in Chester, Pennsylvania. Carmen went on to graduate in 1952 from Villa Joseph Marie Catholic High School in Newtown, Pennsylvania, a school operated by the Sisters of St. Casimir.

Following graduation, Carmen moved to Chicago to enter the Sisters of St. Casimir. She taught grammar school for one year in the historic Lithuanian neighborhood near the old stockyards. Drawn to caregiving, she then pursued nursing studies with the support of Franciscan Sisters. After earning her nursing degree, Carmen worked in several Catholic hospitals throughout the Chicago area.

In the mid-1960s, she transferred to Neligh, where she continued her service with the Sisters of St. Casimir and worked at Antelope Memorial Hospital. In 1970, Carmen returned to Chicago to pursue a graduate degree in nursing.

She soon returned to Nebraska, and in 1972, she married Dwaine J. Peetz, M.D. In 1974, with the assistance of Dr. Peetz and U.S. Senator Carl Curtis, Carmen helped secure the release of her father from behind the Iron Curtain, reuniting him with his family in the United States after 44 years of separation.

Was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Neligh. She did volunteer for Birth Right for many years. She also enjoyed her eight Peetz children and her many grandchildren, great grandchildren and traveling with them all even up to the very end.

Carmen is survived by her sisters Roma Dambrauska and Gema Kreivenas, nieces Michel Krevenas, Kristina Dambrauskas, Daiva Dambrauskas and; nephew Peter Krevenas. Her Peetz children, Susan (Delbert) Ames, Dwaine Peetz Jr., Forrest "Frosty" (Melanie) Peetz, Thomas (Carolyn) Peetz, Mary Candace Pelster, Kristi (Gerald) Zimmer, Stephanie (David) Scott, and Katie Thiele and fiancé Dennis Just; numerous grandchildren, step grandchildren, great grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Preceded in death by her parents, husband Dr. Dwaine J. Peetz Sr., MD; brother Jonas Mindaugas Kreivenas. Son Michael (Joni) Peetz, grandson Jesse Peetz.