Obituaries

Dorothy A. Cunningham, 95, of Waukon died Friday, January 24, 2020 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, January 29 at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial with military rites will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 9:30 a.m. until time of service at the church Wednesday.

Dorothy Anastacia Cunningham was born June 28, 1924 on the Hanover Township, rural Waukon farm of her parents, Willard Frederick and Anna Marie (Healy) Cunningham. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hanover, attended Hanover #4 Elementary School and St. Patrick’s High School in Waukon for three years. She graduated from St. Joseph Academy in Des Moines in June of 1942 while living with an older sister.

Francis “Frank” V. Schulte, 92, of Dorchester died Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at his home in rural Dorchester. Funeral services were held Monday, January 27 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial was at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Dorchester.

Francis Vincent Schulte was born January 8, 1928 in Spring Grove, MN, the son of Henry and Mary “Mayme” (Connor) Schulte. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester and graduated from Waukon High School in 1946, where he played football and baseball.

November 10, 1949, he married Rita McCormick at St. Mary’s Hanover Catholic Church in rural Waukon. They farmed together in Waterloo Township in rural Dorchester, where they milked cows and raised pigs, beef cattle, chickens and crops. Frank has lived on the family farm for 89 years.

Josephine Norma Smith, 97, of Postville died Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral Service was held Saturday, January 25 at Community Presbyterian Church, Postville with Rev. Kate Rupert as the officiant. Burial followed at Postville Cemetery, Postville.

Josephine was born January 25, 1922 to Ole and Anna (Erickson) Loftsgard in Gunder. She was baptized and confirmed in Marion Lutheran Church in Gunder. She attended country school through the eighth grade and graduated from Postville High School. She then taught country school until she was married.

Josephine was united in marriage with Rodney Ira Smith June 18, 1941 at Marion Lutheran Church in Gunder. Eight children were born to this union. Josephine loved being a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother to her family. She was a talented artist who loved drawing using charcoal and also wrote two genealogy books.

Debbie (Deborah) Katherine Curran of Grafton, WI passed away peacefully Sunday, January 19, 2020 at the age of 61 years. The Rite of Christian Burial was held Monday, January 27 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Grafton, WI. Inurnment followed at St. Joseph Cemetery.

Debbie was born in La Crosse, WI December 31, 1958 to Viola (Augedahl) and Cyril Manning. Debbie attended Kee High School. She married James Curran June 21, 1975 at Immaculate Conception in Lansing. Their marriage was blessed with three children that she loved with her whole heart.

Debbie cared greatly for the elderly. She began her career working as an activity aide and nurse’s aide. She worked diligently to achieve her Wisconsin Nursing Home Administrators License and continued her career as administrator at multiple nursing homes in the Milwaukee, WI area. Debbie enjoyed the sun, outdoors and spending time with her friends and family.

Shirley Jean Guyer, 79, of Luana passed January 14, 2020. She was born September 29, 1940 to Henry Paul William Mueller and Viola Clarice (Thompson) Mueller.

Shirley married Harold LeRoy Guyer October 5, 1963. Shirley went to a one room country school near St. Olaf for kindergarten through sixth grade. She attended seventh through 12th grade at the Luana High School and graduated in the class of 1959.

After marriage she lived on a farm near West Union as a farm wife, then moved back to her home farm by Luana in 1971. She worked one summer at the Elgin Corn Factory. She loved working at the McGregor Ceramic Shop for 17 years before retiring in 1995.

Gertrude Jean Hagen, 90, of Waukon died Sunday, January 12, 2020 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held Monday, January 20 at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Gertrude was born August 9, 1929 in Ludlow Township, rural Waukon, the daughter of Theodore and Emma (Grotegut) Henning. She was baptized and confirmed at Salem United Church of Christ in rural Waukon and graduated from Postville High School. After high school, she taught for one year in rural Allamakee County.

November 1, 1947, she married Roland Lawson at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. They farmed in Jefferson Township, where they raised their family; they later divorced.

Grace Clarice Erickson, age 90, of Decorah died January 10, 2020 at Aase Haugen Senior Services in Decorah. Memorial Services will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Aase Haugen, 4 Ohio Street, Decorah, IA 52101, or Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 701 Iowa Avenue, Decorah, IA, 52101.

Grace was born October 20, 1929 to George and Carrie (Bolson) Hill of Decorah. February 23, 1947 she married Myron Erickson, a farmer in rural Decorah. She was a hard-working farm wife for many years and a devoted mother to her children, Julie, Alan and Lori. Later in life, Grace took a job in the Luther College food service, where she greatly enjoyed interacting with students and other employees. She said that the students kept her young, which helps explain why she waited to retire until she was 81.

Shirley A. Schulte, 83, of Waukon died Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, January 22 at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, January 21 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:30 p.m. rosary.

Shirley Ann Schulte was born May 28, 1936 in rural Winneshiek County, the daughter of Joseph and Loretta (Drew) Ryan. She was baptized and confirmed at St. John the Baptist-West Ridge Catholic Church in rural Waukon and graduated from St. Patrick High School in Waukon. August 6, 1955, Shirley married Leon John Schulte at St. John the Baptist-West Ridge.

Margaret C. Blake, 93, of Dorchester passed Wednesday, January 8, 2020. Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 18 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester with Rev. Jerry Blake officiating. Visitation will be held before the service, from 9-11 a.m., at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Burial arrangements will be determined at a later date.  Fellowship and lunch will be at the Waukon Banquet Center following the service.

Margaret C. Hammell was born September 21, 1926. She was born on the family farm on the Sand Cove near New Albin, the daughter of Cornelius “Con” and Mary T. (Wall) Hammell. During WWII, at the age of 17, she was hired to be a teacher in a one-room school near Iowa River Road.

Judith Lynn (Miller) Davis, 76 years of age, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, January 5, 2020 surrounded with family. Her death comes after two significant battles with metastatic cancer, numerous surgeries, and chemotherapy over the past ten years, all while humbly dealing with the aftermath of a stroke.

Her memorial service was held Saturday, January 11 at Plainfield United Methodist Church in Plainfield, WI. Interment will be held at a later date in West Union.