Alice Bechtel 1951-2003

BECHTEL, CHRISTIANSON, CLARK

Posted By: SGF (email)
Date: 10/2/2003 at 07:02:34

Alice M. Bechtel, 52, of Waukon, died Saturday, May 24, 2003, at her home in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 29 at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Waukon with Rev. Danny Volbrecht officiating. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon. Alice Marie Bechtel was born May 5, 1951, at Veterans Memorial Hospital, the daughter of Karl William and Anaruth Heloise (Christianson) Bechtel. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion United Church of Christ, attended Allamakee County Schools, and graduated from Waukon Senior High in 1969. She was active in high school choir, band, and musicals. She enjoyed music and took piano lessons and sang with her brothers and sisters for church functions. She learned how to play the violin after she turned 30. She was also active in 4-H.In her teen and later years, Alice took an active interest in politics as a Republican. She loved to travel around to different parts of the U.S. to visit family and friends. Spending time with her nephews and nieces was important to her. While living in Decorah, Alice was rebaptized at Calvary Baptist Church upon confession of faith. After that, wherever she lived she took an active role as a member in the Baptist church. Early in her teen years, Alice decided to pursue a career in nursing. She worked as an aide in the Good Samaritan Home. Upon graduation, she was admitted to the St. Luke's Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Cedar Rapids. She graduated as a registered nurse in 1972. Alice worked at Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital for two years. She then moved to the Twin Cities and was employed at North Memorial in Robbinsdale, Minn., for two years before fulfilling a desire to work at the Rosebud Indian Reservation Hospital in South Dakota. She returned to the Twin Cities area and once again worked at North Memorial. In the early 1990s, Alice was debilitated with the disease Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, which forced an end to her 18-year nursing career. In 1991, she returned to Waukon, where she lived with her parents until her death. Survivors include her parents, Karl and Anaruth Bechtel of Waukon; two sisters, Helen (Leon) Clark of Hopkins, Minn., and Nancy Bechtel of Waukon; two brothers, Herb (Nona) Bechtel of Richland Center, Wis., and Randy (Sharon) Bechtel of Cynthiana, Ind.; eleven nieces and nephews; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. She was preceded in death by an infant sister, Phyllis.

©Waukon Standard 2003
-source: Waukon Standard May 29, 2003