Buerger, Hilmar "Hil" A.

BUERGER, MECKLENBERG, WOLFRAM

Posted By: Pat Ludeke (email)
Date: 5/30/2013 at 00:59:21

Hilmar "Hil" A. Buerger, 78, of Ventura, Iowa, died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998
at the Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, Mason City, Iowa.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church
in Ventura, with the Rev. Daird Korth officiating. Burial was in Memorial Park
Cemetery, Mason City.

Hilmar Arthur Buerger was born on May 26, 1919 in Addison, Ill., the son of
Oscar and Wilhelmina Mecklenberg Buerger.
On June 4, 1944, he married Ruth Wolfram at St. John Lutheran Church in
Garner, Iowa.

Hilmar attended St. Paul Lutheran School in Addison, Ill. He graduated from
Concordia Prep School in River Forest, Ill., in 1937 and from Concordia
Teachers College in River Forest in 1941. While at Concordia, he served as
president of the student body, played in the band, and participated in
athletics. In 1949 he received a master’s degree from the University of
Maryland. He did additional graduate work at Western Illinois University and
at Northwestern University of Missouri. In 1967 he was a recipient of a
National Science Foundation Scholarship.

He taught at the following schools: St. John Lutheran School in Garner;
Trinity Lutheran School in Faribault, Minn., Immanuel Lutheran School in
Baltimore, Md.; St. Mark Lutheran School in North Tonawadna, N.Y. During the
last 30 years of his professional career, he served as teacher and principal
at St. James Lutheran School in Quincy, Ill. Altogether he served as an
educator for 43 years.

During the years in Quincy, Hilmar served as president, and later as
treasurer, of the Central Illinois Teachers Conference and held memberships on
many other educational boards. He served as moderator for a weekly television
show, “Chart and Compass,” which aired on station KHQA in Quincy.

After retirement in 1984, Hilmar tutored students at the Clear Lake Junior and
Senior High Schools. He also was affiliated with theLiteracy Program at North
Iowa Community College. In 1988 he was named “Volunteer Educator of the Year”
by the Iowa Board of Education. The award was presented by Governor Terry
Branstad. In addition, he received the Friend of Education Award from the
Clear Lake Education Association and was recipient of the 1991 Outstanding
National School Volunteer by Walt Disney World. Other retirement activities
included serving on the Ventura Library committee during the time of the
construction of the new building and as a member of the Lions Club.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Buerger of Ventura; one daughter, Dr. Jane
Buerger, of Tuckahoe, N.Y.; one brother, the Rev. Dr. Martin Buerger and his
wife, Peg, of Pittsburgh, Penn.; three sisters, Elvira Buerger of Conroe,
Texas, Thekla Brendt and her husband, Clarence, of Pekin, Ill., and Beata
Hinterberger of Conroe, Texas; and his brother-in-law, the Rev. James Wolfram
and his wife, Darlene, of Spirit Lake, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Oscar; and four sisters,
Althea, Irmgard, Doris, and Annette.

Organist LeAnn Buns accompanied soloist Robin Wolfram.
Honorary pallbearers were Harold Pueggel, Mark Boehnke, Harold Boehnke, Robert
Boehnke, and Doug Tienan. Pallbearers were his former pupils, Carrol Boehnke,
Eldon Boehnke, Laurice Woiwod, Philip Boehnke, Alvin Meyer, Jr., and Craig Billings.