Ella M. Meiners, 86, of Caledonia, Minn., formerly of Eitzen, Minn., died Friday, Mar. 14, 2008, at Caledonia Care and Rehab.

She was born July 11, 1921, in Winnebago Township to Gustav and Mathilde (Kruse) Schroeder.  In June of 1943, she married Marvin Meiners in The Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa and they were later divorced. Ella was a cook for the Caledonia School District for 22 years, retiring as head cook in 1986. During that time, she was also a cook at Bunge’s Dug Out in Eitzen for 15 years.

Survivors include four children: Devoine (Barbara) Meiners, Eitzen; Harley (Joanne) Meiners, Caledonia; Allen (Connie) Meiners, Eitzen; and Glenda (James) Miller, Caledonia; 14 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren;  one sister, Amanda Olson, Spring Grove; and one sister-in-law, Helen Schroeder, Caledonia. 

She was preceded in death by a daughter in infancy, Jeanette; two brothers: Arnold and Carl Schroeder; and two sisters: Clara Pohlman and Lillie Traff.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2008, at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, Eitzen.  Rev. Kent A. Meyer Ph.D. and Rev. Debra A. Meyer will officiate.  Burial will be in St. Luke’s U.C.C. North Cemetery. Friends may call at the church on Tuesday from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. and also on Wednesday from 10 a.m. until the time of service.  Haugen-Roble-Jandt Funeral Home, Caledonia, is in charge of arrangements.

Harold Richard “Hal” Kumbier, 84, died Thursday, Mar. 13, 2008 following complications from heart surgery.

Hal was born on Feb. 2, 1924 in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. to Anton G. and Emma (Zuleger) Kumbier. He was a 1942 graduate of Glenbeulah High School and enlisted in the US Army. He served in the Tenth Mountain Division in the Po Valley Campaign in Italy during WWII. He attended Lakeland College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a master’s degree in guidance and counseling. He received his lifetime public school teaching license in 1956. Hal taught high school in Baraboo and Port Edwards before becoming a counselor at Sheboygan Falls, Lakeshore Technical Institute and Western Wisconsin Technical Institute in La Crosse. He retired in 1985 from Western Wisconsin Technical Institute as the Supervisor of Admissions.

Hal was married to Helen Marie Hirsch from 1950–1971, and together they had five children. He married Mary (Johnson) Winter on Dec. 12, 1987 and they had three more daughters. Previous to building a home in Onalaska they had lived in Rushford, Minn., Janesville and Beloit, Wis. Hal was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, the Frontier-Badger 45 F&AM, and life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans. He was a past member of the Janesville Lions Club, Nekoosa Lions Club, Wisconsin Rapids Masonic Lodge, and the Barbershoppers singers. He was also past Treasury of the Wisconsin Personnel and Guidance Association (WPGA). Hal was instrumental in the building of the Educational Wing at the Methodist Church in Port Edwards and also helped create the Port Edwards Cemetery in 1958, where his son Tim was buried.

Hal is survived by his wife Mary, his children: Ted (Mary Gjermo), Cambridge, Wis.; Kay De Horn, New Hampshire; Tom (Andrea), Onalaska; Terry (Wendy), Pleasant Prairie, Wis.; Tammi (Rich) Benson, Bangor, Wis.; Laura (Bob) Gaustad, Houston, Minn.; and Sara (Craig) Conley, Houston; 17 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and his older brother Lawrence L. (Dorothy) Kumbier.

He was preceded in death by his son Timothy.

 Funeral services will be held on Sunday, Mar. 16, 2008 at 2 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church. Rev. Donald Iliff will officiate. Burial will be in the Mormon Coulee Memorial Park. Friends may call at the church on Sunday from 12:30 p.m. until the time of services. A Masonic Service will be held at 1:30 p.m.

The Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home of La Crosse is in charge of arrangements.

Bess Eglinton Niedfeldt, age 90 of La Crescent died Feb. 29, 2008 in Green Valley, Ariz. from complications of Valley Fever.

Bess was born on May 19, 1917 at the family farm house in Mound Prairie, Houston County, Minn. to Albert “Bud” and Mabel Eglinton. She attended the one room Mound Prairie school house for eight years and then the Houston High School for four years, graduating with the Class of 1936. In 1937, Bess married Grant W. Lee and they had three children. They were divorced in 1958. In 1961, Bess married Theodore Niedfeldt of La Crosse. Bess worked at the La Crosse Rubber Mills for thity years until she retired at age 60. They moved to Gold Bar, Wash. In late 1998, Ted’s health failed and they returned to La Crescent with Ted dying only five weeks later. She was a member of the Fern Bluff Grange #267, Sultan, Wash., the La Crescent United Methodist Church and La Crescent Eastern Star.

She is survived by her three children: Allen, La Crescent; Lucille “Sue” (Lauren) La Fleur, Houston; and Sharon (Clayton) Hauser, St. Petersburg, Fla.; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by an older brother, Billy Joe Eglinton; older sister, Esther Lynch and her husband, Ted.

A memorial service will be held at a later date and private family committal services will be held in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Hokah. The Dickinson Family Funeral Home, La Crosse, Wis. is assisting the family.

Robert W. Stroetz, age 90, died Saturday, Mar. 1 at Saint Marys Hospital.

Robert William Stroetz was born in Neenah, Wis. Aug. 7, 1917 to William and Clara Stroetz. He spent his early years in Neenah, Weyauwega and Appleton, Wis. As a child, he assisted his father by delivering groceries and working in the family’s grocery store.

Music was his life-long passion. After graduation from high school in 1934, he traveled throughout the midwest with several big bands including the Tom Temple Society Band and the Freddy Slack Band. He studied trombone with the masters, Jerry Chimera in Chicago, Robert Marstellar in Los Angeles, and studied jazz with Bobby Byrne.

He graduated from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1942. Immediately after graduation, he enlisted and became a pilot in the Army Air Corps and played lead trombone in the Air Force jazz band.

After the war, he moved to Los Angeles, Calif., and toured with Les Brown and his Band of Renown. He also played with Skinny Ennis, was a member of the NBC Orchestra in Hollywood, and played for Columbia Motion Picture Studios. He then moved to New York, taught music and played with Ray Noble on the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show.

On Nov. 29, 1946, he married Nina Hancock in Neenah, Wis. She died on December 25, 2002.

In 1946, he also began a lifelong career in music education. He received the Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and, in later years, the Education Specialist degree from the University of Minnesota. He began teaching at the University of New York- Freedonia in 1946, followed by the University of Montana-Missoula, high schools in Galesville, Wis. and Caledonia, Minn. He moved to Rochester, Minn. in 1965, when he was hired as the first band teacher for Mayo High School and taught for the Rochester School District until he retired in 1985. He was principal trombone with the Rochester Symphony from 1956 until 1998 and never missed a concert or a rehearsal. During his career, he played with Victor Borge, Jack Benny, Doc Severinson and The Moody Blues. He continued to give private lessons until December 2007.

He was a charter member of  The Turkey River All-Stars, a local Dixieland jazz band, and played a multitude of venues, both locally and nationally. He has performed with them on the Delta Queen paddleboat in Branson, Mo., and at jazz festivals in New Orleans, as well as for four U.S. presidents.

He is survived by his sons: Philip (Vicky), Stacy, Minn.; and Randy (Lucinda) of Rochester; a stepson, C. Vincent (Kay) Baker, Tucson, Ariz.; two granddaughters; a sister, Caroline Giglia, Fort Thomas, Ky. He was preceded in death by his wife, one brother, and four sisters.

The funeral was at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 4 at Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Rochester. Interment was at Grandview Memorial Cemetery mausoleum. A visitation was held Monday, Mar. 3, from 6 - 8 p.m. at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes and one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the church.