MANNETTER, Helena Evelyn (Schmidtke) 1909-2001

MANNETTER, SCHMIDTKE, GUDERIAN

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 5/14/2011 at 12:57:28

HELENA MANNETTER

ELMA, IOWA - Helena Mannetter, 92, of Elma, died Thursday (Nov. 22, 2001) of natural causes at Mitchell County Regional Health Center in Osage.

Her funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charles City.

Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, also in Charles City.

Friends may call from 3 to 9 p.m. today at Conway Funeral Home in Elma, and also an hour before services at the church.

Helena Evelyn Schmidtke Mannetter was born March 16, 1909, in rural Orchard, the daughter of Alexander Ferdinand and Helena Christine (Guderian) Schmidtke. She was baptized in April 1909 at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charles City by Rev. Casselman. As a young girl she moved with her family to rural Osakis, Minn., where she attended the local country District 23 School. In 1926 she graduated from Osakis High School and continued her education there, taking additional secretarial courses the next year. Later she moved back to rural Orchard with her parents. She worked as a housekeeper for the Bill and Clara Wandro family, caring for Donald, Gallus and Gale.

On Sunday, Sept. 6, 1942, she and Siegfried Fred Mannetter were united in marriage at the Little Brown Church in Nashua by the Rev. Walter M. Fritschel. The couple lived and farmed in the Deerfield area. In March 1943, they moved to rural Elma, where they farmed, and in March 1953, moved to the farm where she was residing at the time of her death.

She was a member of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charles City, where she was active in her church circle. Through the years she was a Mitchell County Extension Council Member, a member of the Farm Bureau and the Farm Bureau Women's Organization. She enjoyed going on bus trips with the Osage Senior Center. But most of all she loved her three grandchildren and her great-granddaughter, Mija.

She is survived by a daughter, Kay (Algie A.) Slindee, of Elma; grandchildren, Sonja (Michael) Cotton, of Charles City, Brent, of Elma and Nadia, of Cedar Rapids; a great-granddaughter, Mija Selene Cotton; a brother, Harold (Wanda) Schmidtke, of Oscoda, Mich.; two sisters-in-law, Laura (Wilbur) Henry, of Charles City, and Regina Wise, of California; a brother-in-law, Agon (Barbara) Mannetter, of Charles City; several cousins, nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Zeke (Oct. 21, 1993); infant daughter, Dianne Lynne; two sisters, Frances and Ruth; and two brothers, Vernon and Donald.

Conway Funeral Home, (641) 393-2461.

[Globe Gazette, Nov. 23, 2001]