Pauline (Piotraschke) HAMM

HAMM, PIOTRASCHKE, ZEMKE, LOUX

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/30/2010 at 12:39:55

February 27, 1913 -- December 25, 1998

FOREST CITY, IA — Pauline Hamm, 85, died Friday (Dec. 25, 1998) at North Iowa Mercy Health Care Center East, Mason City. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at First Lutheran Church, Clarion, and a memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. today at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Forest City, with the Rev. Lee Laaveg officiating. Burial will take place in Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion. Peterson Lund Funeral Home, 505 N. Clark, Forest City, is in charge of arrangements.

Pauline Hamm was born Feb. 27, 1913, the youngest of 13 children of William and Teresa Zemke Piotraschke, in rural Osceola County, near Sibley. Early in her youth, the family moved to a farm near Windom, Minn., where Pauline graduated from high school. She completed beauty school in Denver, Colo., in 1932. In 1934 Pauline was united in marriage to Ralph "Hap" Eugene Hamm, and in 1937 they moved to Clarion where they raised two children. Their daughter, Teresa Mary Elizabeth Hamm Loux, attended Macalester College, was employed by WOW-TV in Omaha, undertook top secret work for the U.S. Government in Europe and for many years was a partner with her husband in an auto parts business in Storm Lake. She died in 1993. Their son, Dr. William E. Hamm, is president of Waldorf College in Forest City. After the death of her husband in 1973, Pauline became a librarian for the Clarion Public Library, which was a labor of love for the next 22 years. She retired from the library at age 82 and moved to Forest City to be closer to her son.

During her years in Clarion, she was always active in the life of First Lutheran Church. She headed the women's group and served as superintendent of the Sunday School. She also taught Sunday School for pre-schoolers for many years. Since moving to Forest City, she has been an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

She is survived by her son, Dr. William E. Hamm, of Forest City; many relatives and friends; and a beloved Yorkshire terrier, KoKo. She was preceded in death by her husband, daughter, parents and all 12 of her siblings. Memorials may be directed to the Lutheran Leaders program of Waldorf College, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Forest City, or First Lutheran Church of Clarion.

December 28, 1998
Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette