Alice Mae (Ottilie) Mendenhall (1915-2003)

MENDENHALL, OTTILIE

Posted By: Eileen Reed
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:58

The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Page 20, Column 2

Services for Alice Mendenhall, 88, will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake, with burial in Okoboji Cemetery at Arnolds Park. Visitation is from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Schuchert Funeral Home in Spirit Lake.
____________________________________________________________

The Dickinson County News
Spirit Lake, Iowa
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Page 9, Column 1

Services were held Nov. 12 at the First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake for Alice O. Mendenhall, 88, who passed away Nov. 7, 2003, at Lakes Regional Healthcare.

Pastor Clint Loveall officiated. Interment was at the Okoboji Cemetery in Arnolds Park.

Alice Mae was born May 12, 1915, in Lake Mills. She was the second of five children born to Will and Jennie Ottilie.

The Ottilie family had a love for music personified in the Ottilie Family Orchestra. All members of the family learned an instrument, and they performed in Chautauguas in the near Midwest. Alice developed a love and mastery of the piano at an early age. In 1932, she won the National High School Music contest in the piano division held in Marion, Ind. She continued at Coe College and performed with the Cedar Rapids Symphony in 1942, she joined the W.A.V.E.S (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and was stationed in the National Naval Center in Bethesda, Md.

In 1946, she worked as a hostess at Templar Park where she met her husband, Walter (Wally) Mendenhall. They were married in 1947, and shortly thereafter, they moved to Lake Okoboji and developed Clements Beach Resort.

Several restaurants had pianos during the 1950s, and she was always welcome to play after dinner with much singing and gaiety to follow. She was active in the First Presbyterian Church as choir director, involved with organization of the Okoboji Summer Theatre, was active in the Republican Party Central Committee and loved the sisterhood of P.E.O. She held a lifelong passion for golf and was able to enjoy it throughout the year as they spent winters in Florida.

Alice was a loving wife and mother, one who appreciated the opportunities of life and made the most of them. Survivors include her son, Walter Mendenhall and his wife, Barbara; two grandchildren: Katherine and Emily, and two brothers: Robert Ottilie and Dr. Don Ottilie.

Memorials may be made in her name to the Okoboji Summer Theatre, EO. Box 341, Spirit Lake, IA 51360. Schuchert Funeral Home of Spirit Lake was in charge of arrangements.