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Robert Mitchell
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 Robert L. “Mitch” Mitchell, 81, of Brownsville, Minn., died on March 26, 2008, at the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center.
He was born on Nov. 19, 1926, in La Crosse, to Herman J. and Annette L.
(Lee) Mitchell. He married Doris M. Heiller on Nov. 14, 1953, in
Brownsville.
Mitch enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and received his training as an
Electrician’s Mate at Purdue University. He served as EM 3rd Class on
the destroyer, USS South Dakota (Japan, 1945) and the aircraft carrier,
USS Hancock, (China Sea of Japan). He was also aboard the USS South
Dakota when Japan surrendered on the nearby USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Mitch later served in the Korean War aboard the USS Siboney until his
discharge in 1952.
Mitch worked for the Burlington Railroad for 43 years. He was an active
member of V.F.W. Post 6801 of Brownsville, Gittens-Leidel American
Legion Post 595 of La Crescent, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie
1254 of La Crosse. He was a lifetime member of the NRA as well as a
member of Ducks Unlimited, the Midwest Banjo Club, and FIGA (Fretted
Instrument Guild of America).
Mitch was a self-taught master of the American Banjo, playing across
the country at various locations. He also performed with the
Oktoberfest Singers, the Jolly Swiss Boys band, the Jerry Gilbertson
band and other groups, and inspired others to pursue the craft. He was
a history buff, capable of retaining intricate details of the Civil
War, World Wars I and II and ancient history. He was also a firearm
aficionado who could identify and repair many makes and models of the
guns of America and other countries. Many would consult him regarding
various firearms.
Mitch was preceded in death by his brother, Howard; and sisters, Kathleen Fields, Joanne Perez, and Leanne Tredway.
He is survived by his wife and sons: Jeff (Sandy), Iola, Wis.; Vance
(Julie), Brownsville; and Bret, Brownsville; four grandchildren; one
great-granddaughter; his brother, William; and sister, Mary Amundson;
and his lifelong friend, Wally Johnson.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, Mar. 30, at 1 p.m., at the
Brownsville Community Center with Pastor Brian Cuda officiating.
Military honors will be provided by V.F.W. Post 6801 and American
Legion Post 595. Friends may call at the center from noon until the
time of service. Following the service, refreshments will be served,
and family and friends are invited to stay and share remembrances of
Mitch.
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Thomas Frank
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 Thomas “Tom” J. Frank, 58, of Brownsville, Minn. died Monday, Mar. 24, 2008 at his home.
Tom was born Dec. 14, 1949 to Herman and Dorothy (Link) Frank in Caledonia, Minn.
Tom was employed by ABC Works, and he was an avid Green Bay Packer fan.
He enjoyed ice cream, time with his “papa”, attending sporting events,
and playing pool.
He is survived by a brother, David (Judy) Frank, Houston, Minn.;
nephews Chris (Angie) Frank and Kevin Frank, both of Caledonia; a
great-neice Madelyn, Caledonia; his foster parents, Guy and Bonnie
Gregerson, Brownsville; foster sisters Kim (Lincoln) Middendorf,
Caledonia, and Jenney Gregerson, Spring Grove; a foster brother
Scott (Malissa) Gregerson, Caledonia; and special friends Cheryl and
Cary Grabhorn and their children Craig, Cassie, Clint and Cody,
Brownsville.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Mar. 29, at St.
Mary’s Catholic Church, Caledonia. Father Gregory Leif will officiate
and burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Caledonia.
Friends may call from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday before the service at the church.
McCormick Funeral Home, Caledonia is assisting the family with arrangements.
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Mary Davy
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 Mary Therese Davy, 79, of Brownsville, died Mar. 14, 2008 at Fransiscan-Skemp Health Care Facility in La Crosse.
She was born in Harpers Ferry, Iowa on Aug. 8, 1928 to Charles and
Josephine (Martelle) Traversey. She married Romis J. Davy on Oct. 18,
1948 in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Harpers Ferry, and celebrated 51
years of marriage together.
Mary was employed by The Company Store, formerly Gillette Industries,
for over 40 years until she retired in 2003 at the age of 75. She was a
life long member of St. Patrick’s Church in Brownsville.
Mary is survived by daughters: Michelle (John) Hompertz, Spring Grove;
Jeanne Marie (Jack) Farnham, Brownsville; a son Joseph Davy, La
Crescent; three sisters-in law: Vi Traversy, Harpers Ferry; Alice
Bennet, West Covina, Calif.; and Marie Campbell, Rodessa, La.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Romis on Oct. 19, 1999; three
sisters: Estelle Quillin, Rosella Poloni, Regina DeFendi, and three
brothers: Linus, Melvin and Thomas.
A Mass of Christian burial was held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 18,
at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Fr. Gregory Leif
officiated with burial at Veteran’s Cemetery. Visitations was held
Monday, Mar. 17 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m.
and one hour prior to the Mass. Both visitations were held at the
Church.
Blaschke & Schneider Funeral Homes assisted the family with
arrangements. Memorials are preferred to be determined by the family at
a later date.
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Clarence Fishel
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Clarence Melvin Fishel, 92, of Toronto, Kansas died Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at his home.
He was born October 29, 1915, in Mound Prairie, Minn. the son of Charles Ralph and Crycynthia Grace Woolley Fishel.
He grew up in Minnesota and South Dakota, and also lived in Wyoming, Montana, Washington, and Arizona in that order.
He worked as a dairyman, farmer, rancher, owned an A&W Root Beer
Stand in Cut Bank, Mont., truck driver, and school bus driver.
He was a 50 year member of the Masonic Lodge in Hulett, Wyo.
On November 12, 1936, he married Ruth Edith Diedrich in Brownsville, Minn.
He is survived by his wife, Edith, four sons, Donald, Sekiu, Wash.,
Harry, Washougal, Wash., Arthur, Hines, Ore., and Gary, Toronto, Kan.,
a daughter, RoseMary Lewis, Placerville, Calif., 12 grandchildren, 23
great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.
Inurnment services will be at a later date in Hokah, Minn. There will
also be a memorial service at a later date in Belle Fourche, SD.
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Ella Meiners
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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.
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Edna Strub
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 Edna
Strub, 88, of Caledonia, and formerly of La Crescent and Lansing, Iowa,
died Wednesday Mar. 12, 2008 at Caledonia Care and Rehab in Caledonia.
Edna was born in Decorah, Iowa on Apr. 04, 1919 to Hans and Mabel
(Rustad) Halvorson. She married Vincent Strub on May 3, 1938 at St.
Benedicts Catholic Church in Decorah. She and her husband farmed in the
Caledonia and Lansing, Iowa area.
She is survived by seven children: Kathryn (Robert) Van Brocklin,
Lansing; Robert (Joan) Strub, Lansing; Joan Downer, Dundee, Iowa; Duane
Strub, Caledonia; Elaine (John) Burg, Caledonia; Ron Strub La Crescent;
and Karen (Robert) Snodgrass, Caledonia; 26 grandchildren; 45
great-grandchildren; four siblings: Ruth Strub, Dubuque Iowa; Orlando
Halverson, Decorah; Margaret Stortz, Decorah; and Donald (June)
Halvorson, Decorah.
Edna was preceded in death by her husband Vincent on July 7, 1980; one
son Michael; three grandsons: Kenneth Van Brocklin, Daniel Schulte and
Ronald Van Brocklin; and a great-grandson Aaron Rettinger.
Funeral services were held 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Immaculate Conception
Catholic Church in Lansing with Fr. Daniel Knipper officiating.
Burial was in Gethsemane Cemetery in Lansing. Friends called on
Saturday at the church from 9:30 until time of services. Thornburg
Hanson Funeral Home in Lansing is assisting the family.
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Harold Kumbier
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 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.
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Bess Niedfeldt
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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.
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