William Gustav Bathke 1882-1963

BATHKE, DIXON, HARRIS, CUE, BREDEHOP, OULMAN, FINGERS, STRINGER, CANNON, PLUTZ, GONZALES, MICHELS, WEATHERBEE, WETHERBEE, STREMPKE

Posted By: Dorothy (email)
Date: 1/29/2010 at 10:29:40

William Gustav Bathke, son of
Herman and Molly Bathke was
born at Le Claire, Wis., June 17,
1882. The family moved to the
Sumner area in Iowa in his early
childhood.
On May 27, 1907, he was married
to Nellie Dixon at Independence
and they had seven sons and
seven daughters. The family lived
on farms in the Tripoli and Oran
communities until moving to Oelwein
in 1928.
Mr. Bathke then took up work
for the Great Western Railway until
his retirement. He enjoyed good
health until last October when he
was hospitalized for a short time.
He was taken back to Mercy hospital
April 20. 1963 and died at
3:40 p.m. Monday, April 29. He had
attained an age of 80 years, 10
months and 12 days.
He is survived by his widow,
Nellie; six sons; Clarence, Hazletbn;
Earl, Waterloo; George and
William Jr., both of Oelwein; Dale,
Phoenix, Ariz, and James, Oakland,
Calif.; six daughters: Mrs. Helen
(Glen) Harris and Mrs. Josephine
(Grover) Cue, both of Hazleton:
Mrs. Marian Bredehop and Mrs.
Kathleen (Denver) Oulman, both
of Oelwein; Mrs. Dorothy (Robert)
Fingers, Evansdale and Mrs. William
(Evelyn) Stringer, Phoenix,
Ariz.; 19 grandchildren and 12
great-grandchildren; one sister,
Mrs. Ella Cannon,. Oran; two stepbrothers;
John and Fred Plutz,
both of Oelwein; two step-sisters,
Mrs. Martha Gonzales and Mrs.
Tillie Michels, both of Oelwein and
many other relatives.
He was preceded in death by
his parents, one son, Robert; one
daughter, Ruby; his step-mother,
two brothers, Henry and Herman;
one sister, Mrs. Martha (William)
Weatberbee; one step-sister, Mrs.
Alvine Strempke and four grandchildren.
Funeral services were conducted
at the Brant Chapel by Rev. G
Bunge May 2, 1963 at 2 p.m. with
burial in Woodlawn cemetery.

Oelwein Daily Register - 4 May 1963