Darlene R Otto

Hastings, Nebraska resident Darlene R. Otto, 84, passed away Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Lincoln, NE.

Services will be at 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at Grace United Methodist Church in Hastings with Pastors Josh Seifert and Dan Norwood officiating. Burial will be 2:00 P.M.at Phillips Cemetery in Phillips, NE. Book signing will be 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home. Memorials may be given to the Darlene R. Otto Memorial Fund to be established at a later date. The service will be live-streamed on Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home’s website. To view the service, go to Darlene’s obituary and click the play button shown towards the bottom of the page. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.lbvfh.com. Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home & Cremation Center is serving the family.

Darlene was born September 5, 1941, to Joe and Berniece Ehrenberg of rural Creighton, NE, at Plainview Hospital in Plainview, NE. She was raised on a farm near Creighton, NE, as one of five siblings. She attended country school, then graduated from Creighton High School in 1957. After graduation, she completed secretarial training at Lincoln School of Commerce in Lincoln, NE. She worked at Keim Hall on East Campus at UNL and later at State Farm Insurance in Lincoln, NE.

Darlene married Keith W. Coffey on June 11, 1961. To this union, two daughters were born, Carolyn and Kristen. They farmed near Phillips, Nebraska, and attended the United Methodist Church in Phillips. After Keith died in 1969, she continued to raise her daughters on the farm. On July 16, 1976, Darlene married Richard R. Otto Sr. of Phillips, NE. She attended Hastings College and UNK, completing her Bachelor’s degree in Business and Technology, and became an interior designer, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

She worked as a kitchen and bathroom designer at Mead Lumber for many years until she retired. She moved to Hastings in 2000 and lived there for 25 years, attending Grace United Methodist Church in Hastings, NE.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers; Floyd and Donald Ehrenberg; sister; Betty Jo (Ehrenberg) Price; her husband; Keith Coffey; and second husband, Richard Otto Sr.

She is survived by her daughters, Carolyn Coffey (Robert Zetocha) of Lincoln, NE, and Kristen (Dave) Johnson of Hastings, NE. Five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, one brother, Kenneth (Sherry) Ehrenberg; nieces, nephews, two stepsons and their families, and other relatives and friends.