Gwen McQuisten

Gwen was born April 15, 1956, in Lincoln, NE, while her father was in college acquiring his engineering degree. Sister Lynndi was born two years later in 1958 and in January 1959 the family relocated to Kansas City. Garon was born here in 1961 and in December of that year when Gwen was 6 years old, they relocated to Ogallala, NE, where they remained.

The family lived in a house on 4th Street and in 1965 sister Jodi was born. Gwen attended the public schools and graduated from Ogallala HS. She was a cheerleader, Homecoming Queen, twirler, dance and graduated one of the top of her class. During those HS years she worked at the nursing home and Hokes Café. She then went on to attend Wesleyan University then returned to Ogallala. She joined the Church of Christ, married August 1976 (Scott Merrill) and started work at the hospital as a medical technician.

She retired from work and started a family, having Eboni in 1983 and Ambri two years later. She devoted the next many years as a stay-at-home mother, raising and loving her daughters.

She continued to strengthen her faith and love for the Lord and became very active in her church. She also was very proactive in her daughters' schooling and community school projects.

Later in life she became an insurance agent where she made all her customers her second family. Whenever she met with her clients, she made them the center of attention and made it her priority to help them the best that she could.

Everyone that met Gwen, whether it be through her friends growing up, her work, church or other activities, always said she was the nicest, most full-of-life person they met. An Angel.

In 2018, she married Dave McQuisten, at which time she acquired an extended family with Dave's daughter Shannon and her son Aedan. Dave and Gwen shared a common faith which they both strengthened even further. Gwen loved to travel and they started traveling the world. She went on many vacations with Dave, the girls and their families and her siblings. She traveled often to Hawaii where she and Dave were married, to WY to visit Jodi, Oregon to visit Lynndi and many other vacations with family. Although she loved to travel, her favorite thing was to come back to her beautiful home, to her daughters, grandchildren and her dogs. She so loved all her dogs, Muffin, Maggie, Mieko, Meisha and Maiya.

Gwen was a wonderful daughter, devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She was the best sister that one could have and an aunt that all nieces and nephews loved. All that knew her loved her. She was affectionately known as "Puddles" to her daughters and "GG" to her grandchildren. She often mentioned that Wendell (Gead) Merrill was her best friend. He was a huge positive influence on her life.

In 2025, Dave and Gwen relocated to Omaha to be close to Eboni, Ambri and their families. It was here in Bennington she developed even another family at the assisted living center. All residents would encourage Gwen's smile, one that lit up the entire room. It was here that Gwen lived her final days.

Gwen is survived by her loving husband, Dave McQuisten; previous husband, Scott Merrill; daughters, Eboni (Ryan) Schmidt and Ambri (Ted) Vogel; stepdaughter, Shannon (John) Graham; grandchildren, Jackson Vogel, Adeline Vogel and Aedan Bowker; siblings, Lynndi Falotico, Garon (Sherri) Stewart and Jodi Neverve; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other loving family and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Cameron and Faylene Stewart; in-laws, Wendell and Carolyn Merrill; brothers-in-law, Dirk Neverve, Russ Falotico, and David Merrill.

There will be a Memorial Service on November 1, 2026 at Good Shepherd Funeral Home, 3809 N 90th Street, Omaha NE 68134. Memorial Service at 2 pm with a reception following in the Good Shepherd Reception Hall. Please direct memorials to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sc_icid=home-btn-donate-now

There will be a service in Ogallala, NE on November 14th. More details to come.