Paul M. WATNEM

WATNEM, NIENHAUS, CLASSICK, SICLEY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/12/2010 at 19:22:39

Ottosen, IA - Paul M. Watnem, 58, Dubuque, formerly of Ottosen, died Saturday (30 March 1991) at the Finley Hospital in Dubuque. Services will be 4 p.m. today at the Seigert Dedesh Colonial Funeral Home in Dubuque. Burial will be in Forest City. Visitation is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today. Memorial services will be held 11 a.m. Thursday at the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City.

Survivors include his wife, Marian; daughter, Paula Sicley, Omaha, Neb.; sons, Philip, Oregon, Greg, Ellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nev.; stepdaughter, Kathie Nienhaus, Waterloo; parents, Percy and Luella Watnem, Ottosen; brothers, Allan, Ottosen, Bruce, Pocahontas, Randy, Humboldt; several aunts.

Paul M. Watnem was born April 27, 1932, in Ottosen. He graduated from Ottosen High School and attended Waldorf College in Forest City and St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. He joined the U.S. Army in 1952 and was stationed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He married Carolyn Classick in 1955. Upon completion of his tour of duty he attended the University of Northern Iowa at Cedar Falls and graduated with a degree in teaching. He taught in Klemme and Clear Lake. While teaching at Klemme he was also mayor and justice of the peace from 1972 to 1974. After leaving Clear Lake he worked at Winnebago Industries in Forest City designing blueprints for modular homes. He worked at Waldorf College in Forest City from 1978 to 1987 as director of buildings and grounds. He married Marian Nienhaus in 1983. In 1987 he joined Service Master Organization and moved to Shakopee, Minn., where he worked in the school district as plant and operation manager. In 1989 he transferred to Finley Hospital in Dubuque and worked as plant and operations manager. The family requests all memorials be sent to Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottosen.