WEIGAND, Marie (Trettin) 1928-2004

WEIGAND, TRETTIN, CLAUS

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/17/2009 at 11:42:33

MARIE (TRETTIN) WEIGAND

ROCKFORD, IOWA — Marie Catherine (Trettin) Weigand, 77, longtime R-R-MR teacher, died Tuesday (May 11, 2004) in her home with family and friends by her side.

Funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church, 805 E. Main Ave., Rockford, with Pastor Patricia Shaw officiating. Interment will be in Riverside Cemetery in Rockford.

The family will greet friends from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Fullerton-Schumburg Funeral Home, 302 W. Main St., Rockford. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the church.

Those planning memorials or an expression of sympathy may direct them to the Hand Bell Choir at Zion Lutheran Church, Rockford.

Marie was born Sept. 29, 1928, at Grafton, Iowa. She was the eighth child born to Albert F. and Kathrina (Claus) Trettin.

Marie was baptized in the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grafton. On March 1, 1929, the Trettin family moved to a farm one mile East of Rockford.

Marie was confirmed in the Zion Lutheran Church, Rockford. She graduated from Rockford High School in 1946, having completed two years of normal training courses while attending high school.

She then attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) for two years and earned an elementary teaching certificate.

Marie taught at the junior high school in LaPorte City for two years.

On July 10, 1949, Marie was united in marriage to William “Bill” Weigand. She continued to teach in the Rockford school for four years, also helping Bill with their business, “Ice Cream and Lunch,” which they owned and operated for six years.

In 1957, the Weigand family moved to Rancho Cordova, Calif. Marie earned her B.A. at the University of California-Sacramento in 1970.

She continued at the U of C graduate school for another year and substituted regularly in the Folsom School District.

While in California, Marie was active as a Cub Scout den mother, Junior Girl Scout leader, Sunday School Principal, Sunday School, and Bible School teacher and assisted with confirmation classes.

She was also involved in community activities and gave freely of her time to assist with swim teams on which her children participated.

In 1966, Marie was presented with the “Mother of the Year” award for her volunteer service to school, church and the community of Rancho Cordova.

In 1973, the Weigand family returned to Iowa. From 1973 until her retirement in 1994, Marie taught in the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock schools, teaching home economics and language arts.

She served as a delegate at the National Education Association Convention and the Iowa State Education Associate Convention and was also a local delegate for the R-R-MR schools for several years.

Marie was a member of the Council of English Teachers Association and served as a board member and president on the R-R-MR Student Loan Association. Marie will long be remembered as the “Spelling Bee Coach Extraordinaire.” Twenty-eight of her students progressed to the state spelling bee, with most of them placing in the top five percent. In 1982, she accompanied her Iowa winner to the Washington, D.C., National Spelling Bee.

She was selected by senior students for the first edition of Who’s Who Among American Teachers and was selected by Iowa Masons as one of the five finalists as Mason Teacher of the Year, 1992. Marie was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church, Rockford. She enjoyed playing bridge, golfing, reading and traveling. She and Bill were avid Iowa Hawkeye fans.

Surviving are her children, C.W. Weigand of El Dorado, Calif.; Jan Weigand of Pembroke Pines, Fla.; Tom Weigand and his wife, Beth, of Decatur, Ill., and Joel Weigand of Elkhart, Iowa; one granddaughter, Annalisa Marie Weigand of DeSoto, Ill; two step-grandchildren, Jennifer Guarna of El Dorado and Brandi Baker-Reich of Mason City; three sisters, Ella Schutt and Mabel Trettin, both of Mason City; Shirley Fullerton of Rockford; three brothers, Harold Trettin and his wife, Fran, Ed Trettin and his wife, Margaret, and George Trettin and his wife, Arlene, all of Rockford; her sister-in-law, Sally Stadtlander and her husband, Myron; also surviving are many nieces and nephews and special friends, Barb McKinstry and Doug Schroeder.

Marie was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, on Nov. 4, 2001; her parents; two brothers, Walter and Wesley; and a cousin, Orland Graper during World War II.

Fullerton-Schumburg Funeral Home and Cremation Services, (641) 756-3311. www.fullertonfh.com

[Mason City Globe Gazette]