Arlis Joyce Sasek, age 78 of Lincoln, passed away Feb. 18, 2026, at the Bryan West Hospital Comfort Care.
She was born in Fairbury on July 31, 1947, to Clarence and Arlene (Matzke) Sasek. She grew up on the farm and attended a country grade school near Swanton. She attended Western High School, Western, and graduated with the Class of 1965.
Arlis’s interest was cosmetology and she enrolled in Ben Your Hairdresser School of Beauty in Lincoln, graduating in 1967. She moved to Omaha and worked at the Holiday Inn Salon for five years. In 1972, she received an opportunity to move to Huntington Beach, California, and worked as a hairdresser at “Ed’s Hair West” and the “Mane Event Salon.” In 2014, she joined her significant other, Glen “Pete” McRaven, in Jonesboro, Illinois, to share retirement life with him.
In 2023, Arlis moved to Nebraska. Arlis’s family was elated when she decided to move “back home” to Nebraska and we could all spend quality time together as we approached retirement. She lived at the Brentwood Estates-Independent Living in Lincoln and then moved to the Southlake Village & Care Center. We found an appropriate wall hanging for her when she lived in the independent facility. It read “Just because my Path is Different doesn’t mean I’m Lost.”
Arlis made many lifelong friends in California during her 42 years there. Many of her friends there have become close to us as her health continued to fail over the last few months.
Arlis loved dogs, having her own “Dakota,” was a picture of how she lit up when a dog would come around her. Some people that visited at Southlake would bring their dogs in and that always made her day.
Another love of Arlis’s was gambling and playing those games on her phone. She spent hours enjoying that and watching old TV programs and games.
Arlis is survived by Peter McRaven (Pete’s son) of Artesia, New Mexico; siblings, Carol (Marion) Schmidt of Roca, and Donna (Tom) Bartels of Beatrice; nephews: Ryan (Cathy) Filipi of Lees Summit, Missouri; Daniel (Barby) Schmidt of Austin, Texas, Tanner (Missy) Bartels of Lincoln, and Dustin (Caitlin) Sasek of Gladstone, Missouri; niece: Samantha Sasek of Kansas City, Missouri; aunt Ruby Sasek of St. Louis, Missouri; great nieces and nephews and many cousins and relatives.
In 2023, Arlis was preceded in death by her significant other, Glen “Pete” McRaven; parents, Clarence and Arlene Sasek; brother, Carey G. Sasek (2024); grandparents, Gustav and Anna Matzke, James and Mamie Sasek; and aunts and uncles.
Burial will be at a later date at the Plainview Cemetery in Western.
