Treinen, Wilma A. 1914-2015

TREINEN, RAETZ, BILLINGS

Posted By: Michael Treinen (email)
Date: 5/31/2020 at 19:52:06

Wilma A. Treinen, 100, of Le Mars, Iowa, formerly of rural Remsen, Iowa, passed away on Monday, May 11, 2015 at the Parkview Care Center in Wells, Minnesota. Funeral services will take place at 10:30 am. on Saturday, May 23, 2015 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Remsen, Iowa. Rev. Pete Petersen will officiate. Burial will follow at Holy Name Catholic Cemetery in Marcus, Iowa. Visitation will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 22, 2015 at St. Paul Lutheran Church with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. Visitation will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at the church.

Wilma was born on September 10, 1914, in rural Ashton, Iowa, the first child of William and Amelia (Billings) Raetz. Her family moved to a Meadow Township farm northwest of Marcus in 1918.

She graduated as Class Valedictorian from Marcus High School at age 16 in 1931. During her junior and senior years in high school she took the “Normal Training & Methods” classes to prepare for a teaching career. With a minimum teaching age requirement of 18, Wilma had to wait over a year for her first teaching assignment at a one-room country school 4 miles south of Remsen. Her salary was $45 per month. When Wilma quit teaching 8 years later, after marriage, she was making $85 per month. At her death Wilma was the oldest surviving graduate of Marcus High School.

She married Merle Treinen on September 9, 1940. They made their home on the Treinen family farm, northeast of Remsen in Meadow Township, for the next 64 years, until they moved to a senior living apartment in Remsen in 2004. Wilma and Merle later moved to Park Place Estates in Le Mars 2007. She moved to the nursing home in Minnesota in May of 2014.

Wilma and Merle were avid gardeners. They worked side by side, growing tons of garden produce that they canned, froze, and shared with family and friends. A dedicated cook, baker and homemaker, Wilma was selected as the 1979 Plymouth County Rural Homemaker. Also, all new babies in the family could expect her hand-made blankets, followed by pajamas as they grew older.

Wilma and Merle were advocates for children born with special needs. She served a two year term as Secretary of the Plymouth County Association for Retarded Citizens. Wilma and Merle also volunteered for many years at the Le Mars Life Skills Training Center and at the Happy Siesta Nursing Home in Remsen.

In 2006 Wilma and Merle donated 13 acres of their Meadow Township Century Farm’s pasture land to Plymouth County Conservation Board for a native prairie preserve. This pasture has never been plowed since purchased in 1881 by Merle’s Grandparents, Nicholas and Katherine Treinen, the original settlers.

Wilma is survived by her children, Michael (Sara Jane) of Des Moines, Iowa, Maren (Michael) Hayes of Sammamish, Washington, Ann (Scott) Goodmanson of Albert Lea, Minnesota, Lea (Mark) Nowak of Wells, Minnesota, Laurie (Pat) Stroud of Danville, California, Jean Treinen of Le Mars, Iowa and Joyce (Tom) Galvin of Holstein, Iowa
She has 18 grandchildren and 23 great grand-children, and 1 great-great granddaughter.
Also surviving is her sister, Elizabeth (Mrs. Carl) Mayer of Marcus; and son-in-law, Don Turk of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Merle (who died in 2009); sisters, Dorothy Brown and Jo (Marian) Craig; daughter, Kathy Lathrop Turk; great-grandson, Kyle Placzek; and son-in-law, Ron Lathrop.