Kischer, Melvin Louis (1923-2016)

KISCHER, GANZ, ROHLFSEN, HASENBANK, STUMO, TATMAN, HAMILTON, WISEMAN, JECH, CLAUSSEN, POHL, PICKETT, BAILEY

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 1/23/2017 at 14:23:04

Melvin Louis Kischer
February 3, 1923 - December 7, 2016

Melvin L. Kischer, age 93, of Waukee, Iowa, formerly of Newell, Iowa, died on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, at the Village at Legacy Pointe in Waukee.

Melvin Louis Kischer was born to Henry Dietrich and Lenora Elizabeth (Ganz) Kischer (formerly from Mendota, Illinois) on February 3, 1923, in his parents’ rural farmhouse 6 ½ miles north of Newell, Iowa. After he was baptized as an infant at St. John’s Lutheran Church, a country church located 2 ½ miles away from the family homestead, his parents changed their affiliation to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Newell because it offered Sunday School classes. Melvin purportedly spoke only German at home until the age of five when he started country school at Coon Township #4, just ½ mile south from where he was born and lived. He attended this school through the 8th grade when he became a full-time farm helper for his father.

At age 14, Melvin was confirmed in his Christian faith at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church where he remained a steadfast, lifelong member, serving on many committees, in several church offices, and as head elder. As a youth, he, actively, participated in the Walther League, a church group whose members traveled to many area youth group meetings and banquets. At one such gathering of youth, he had the good fortune to meet a precocious young lady, Elaine Edna Rohlfsen, seated behind him. Some friends had dared her to lodge a pin head between the toe leather and the sole of her shoe and give a gentle kick in the behind of the boy seated in front of her. Her ploy worked, and that boy became stuck on her. Indeed, he, eventually, married her on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1945.

After their wedding, the young couple started farming on rental property just a mile away from Melvin’s boyhood home. Upon the death of his grandmother, “Little G’ma” Lizzy, Melvin and Elaine moved onto the 160-acre ancestral property across the road from Henry and Lenora on Christmas Eve, 1953. This union was blessed with four children. They remained a successful farm couple on this farm and expanded their operations until April of 1988 when Elaine’s deteriorating eyesight and declining general health obliged them to move into their last home located in Newell. Elaine passed away on May 31, 1999, at the Marian Health Center in Sioux City after a prolonged illness. Moreover, because of his declining health, Melvin moved in December of 2012 into an assisted living apartment in the Des Moines metro area.

Besides his devoted wife of fifty-three years, Melvin was preceded in death by both parents, a younger sister, Darlene Hasenbank; his brothers-in-law, Arthur Hasenbank; and Vern, Orlen, and Don Rohlfsen; and two sons-in-law, Rocky (Shirley) Stumo and Jay (Margaret) Tatman.

Those left to cherish the memory of Melvin’s life include his sons: Larry (Uni) and Wayne Kischer, both of West Des Moines, Iowa; his daughters: Shirley Stumo, of West Concord, Minnesota, and Margaret Tatman, of Graettinger, Iowa; nine grandchildren: Michelle (Matt) Hamilton, of Hayfield, Minnesota, Nicole Wiseman (fiancé Matt Jech), of Rochester, Minnesota, Seth Claussen-Pohl (Don), of Orlando, Florida, Josh Claussen, of Graettinger, Iowa, Nate Kischer, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, James Tatman, of Atlanta, Georgia, Kim Pickett, of Pella, Iowa, Tyler Tatman, of Austin, Texas, and Jesse (Beth) Tatman, of Atlanta, Georgia; and seven great-grandchildren: Natalie Pickett, of West Des Moines, Iowa, Hannah (Peter) Bailey, of Polk City, Iowa, Emily Pickett, of Pella, Iowa, Cael and Shane Claussen, of Graettinger, Iowa, Ella Tatman, of Austin, Texas, and Tucker Tatman, of Atlanta, Georgia; his sisters-in-law: Phyllis Rohlfsen, of Newell, Iowa, Mary Rohlfsen, of Mason City, Iowa, and Miriam Rohlfsen, of West Des Moines, Iowa; as well as five nieces, seven nephews, and their families.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 10, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Newell. Burial will follow in the Newell Cemetery. Visitation will take place Friday, December 9, 2016, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is overseeing the arrangements.

Copyright © 2016, Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Homes

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