Alvin O. H. SETZEPFANDT

SETZEPFANDT, FOSTER, REINICKER, DORWEILLER, DORWEILER, SMITH

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/15/2013 at 21:24:10

October 18, 1896 --- July 22, 1983

A.O.H. Setzepfandt dies after surgery

A memorial service for former Rolfe School Superintendent Alvin O.H. Setzepfandt, 87, was held Monday, July 25, at the Shellhammer Funeral Home, West Bend, who died Friday, July 22, 1983, of complications following emergency surgery at a Cedar Rapids hospital. The Rev. Dallas Johnson, pastor emeritus of the Rolfe Presbyterian Church, officiated at the memorial service. The remains, which were cremated, were buried in West Bend Cemetery. The Setzepfandts returned to Rolfe in 1978 to attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the 1928 graduating class of the Rolfe High School. They had been invited to attend the 55th reunion of the same class this year, but declined on the basis of limited travel. The Setzepfandts, who live in Tulsa, Okla., had attended a family reunion in Minnesota and were visiting with Mrs. Setzepfandt's sister, Mrs. C. S. Foster, in Cedar Rapids, enroute home, when Mr. Setzepfandt became ill and was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital emergency room.

Mr. Setzepfandt was born at Bellevue, Iowa on Oct. 18, 1896, the son of Marie Reinicker and Gustav Johan Setzepfandt. He graduated from the Bellevue Public Schools and attended the University of Northern Iowa for two years, transferring to the University of Iowa at Iowa City, where he completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees in education in 1922 and 1923. He also attended Colorado State, Columbia University, and the University of Iowa for additional advanced degree work in later years.

Mr. Setzepfandt and the former Louise Dorweiller, of West Bend, were married May 26, 1923, in Newton, Iowa. Prior to coming to Rolfe in 1924 as superintendent, Mr. Setzepfandt taught at Eagle Grove and Jesup, Iowa. Leaving Rolfe at the completion of the 1928-29 school year in 1929, Mr. Setzepfandt joined the Tulsa, Okla., school system, where he served as principal of the Barnard and Hoover Elementary School. After serving five years as assistant superintendent for elementary education, Mr. Setzepfandt returned to Hoover Elementary School, Tulsa's largest elementary school, where he served until retirement in 1962. Following retirement, Mr. Setzepfandt did volunteer work with teachers and the American Association of Retired Persons. He taught a defensive driving class and helped others with income tax returns and insurance problems. He was a life member of the Oklahoma Education Association, the National Education Association, and the Elementary Principals Association. He served as president of the Oklahoma Retired Teachers Association as well as the multistate regional association. The Setzepfandts celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in May 1983. While they were in Rolfe, the couple were members of the Rolfe Presbyterian Church and active in the Adult Sunday School class at the church. Referring to Superintendent Setzepfandt, the Pocahontas County Historical Society's History Book states: "If a teacher was absent, the superintendent was our substitute. Superintendent Setzepfandt made it a point to personally know every child who attended the Rolfe School. If he saw one on the grounds or in the building he didn't recognize, he would stop and talk to them the next time he saw them."

Survivors include his wife, Louise, of Tulsa, Okla.; a son, Dr. A. O. H. Septzepfandt, Jr., and his wife Carol, of Bird Island, Minn.; grandsons, A. O. H. Setzepfandt, III, of Oakland, Calif.; Paul Wilson Setzepfandt, of Bird Island, Minn.; Scott Allen Setzepfandt of Mankato, Minn.; granddaughter, Sue Setzepfandt Smith, of Sacramento, Calif; greatgrandsons, Dennis Paul, Wilson John, and Steven Lloyd Setzenpfandt, of Bird Island, Minn., and Cameron Scott Setzepfandt, of Mankato, Minn, great-granddaughters, Chelsea Carol Ann Smith, of Sacramento, Calif., and Kati Rae Setzepfandt, of Mankato, Minn.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Rolfe Arrow - Rolfe, Iowa
July 28, 1983