RADUENZ, Virginia Lillian (Coull) 1920-2001

BURMASTER, COULL, RADUENZ, HARKIN, PHILLIPS, NICHOLS, MUHS, SANDS

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 10/14/2010 at 14:40:37

Decorah Public Opinion, Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Virginia Raduenz

Virginia Raduenz, 81, of Decorah and formerly of Vesta, Minn., died Wednesday, April 25, 2001, at Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital in Decorah.

There was no visitation, as the body was cremated.

Memorial services were held Friday, April 27 at 2 p.m. at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Decorah with Rev. Matthew Perkins officiating.

Organist was Connie Bolson, and hymn selections included "Nearer My God To Thee," "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds" and "Abide With Me."

A burial service was held Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. in Vesta, Minn.

Fjelstul Funeral Home of Decorah handled arrangements.

Virginia Lillian Coull was born April 6, 1920 in Boston, Mass., to Magdalena (Burmaster) and Ernest Coull, the second of four children. Shortly after her birth, the family relocated to St. Paul, Minn., where she was raised and attended school.

She graduated from St. Cloud Teacher's College and began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse near Vesta where she met Walter Raduenz. They were married Sept. 12, 1942.

During the early years of their marriage, Walter and Virginia Raduenz farmed on the Raduenz family farm near Lucan, Minn., where Virginia Raduenz also taught school.

They soon moved to their own farm in Sheridan Township near Delhi, Minn., before finally settling down in Vesta, Minn., where they raised four children, Ruth, Jan, Sherry and Dale.

While in Vesta, Virginia Raduenz regularly attended St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church and became very active in the Ladies Aid Association.

After the children left home, she returned to the profession she loved and taught Kindergarten for several years in both Lucan and Vesta.

When the couple retired, they traveled south to Phoenix, Ariz., where they began to spend their winters.

During the summer, they always returned to Minn. where the whole family often gathered at their cottage on Big Lake. All of their grandchildren fondly remember sleeping on the screened-in porch, fishing and tubing on the lake, coffee breaks in town and picking fresh raspberries for Grandma's famous ice-cream topping.

In Oct. 1995 Walt Raduenz became ill and was transferred to Green Lea Manor in Mabel.

Virginia Raduenz moved to Decorah to be near him and her youngest daughter Sherry Nichols and her family.

While in Decorah she resided independently and attended church regularly with the Nichols family. She loved watching professional basketball (especially with the Phoenix Suns), doing crossword puzzles, reading and indulging frequently in her notorious sweet tooth.

Survivors include her four children and their, spouses: Ruth and Tom Harkin of Gumming, Iowa; Jan Phillips of Potomac, Md.; Sherry and Marc Nichols of Decorah and Dale Raduenz and Sue Babcock of St. Paul, Minn.

Seven grandchildren also survive her, and on April 16, 2001 she had become a proud great-grandparent with the birth of Steven Joseph Broussard.

She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Bey Coull of Jackson, Minn.; sister Joan and LaVerne Muhs of Birmingham, Iowa and sister Evelyn and Elwyn Sands of St. Paul.

Virginia Lillian Raduenz was preceded in death by her husband and her brother, Douglas Coull.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.