Ella Kirschbaum

Ella "Rose" Kirschbaum, age 75 of Sauk Centre, died on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 after 7 months of dedicated care at the Pine Haven Alzheimer's wing of Pine Villa Care Center in Melrose.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 24 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Todd Schneider officiating. Interment will take place at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. Parish prayers will be at 5:15 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.

Serving as casket bearers will be Adam, Thomas, Joseph, Timothy, Samuel and Katie Kirschbaum. Cross bearer will be Elise Kirschbaum and scripture bearer will be Megan Kirschbaum.

Born on March 26, 1929 in Indianola, Mississippi, she was one of five children of Joe and Lillian (nee Greer) Carpenter. She was a second generation nurse, following in her mother's footsteps at the John Gastin Hospital in Memphis, receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from the University of Tennessee. She worked for forty years in various nursing specialties, but took the greatest joy from school nursing in Apple Valley, Minnesota, from which she retired in 1991. Rose was an active lifelong volunteer in the church and, as a new retiree, volunteered for several years in the senior dining site in Sauk Centre.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 53 years, Charles Kirschbaum, originally of Defiance, Iowa. They married in 1951 in Memphis and she followed her husband in U.S. Navy assignments spanning the U.S., Japan, and Greece. After retirement from the military the couple settled in the suburbs of Minneapolis where her four children spent much of their childhood and schooling. She is also survived by those four children, their spouses, and 11 grandchildren; Michael Kirschbaum, his wife, Jennifer (nee Adams), and grandsons, Adam and Thomas, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Dr. Mark Kirschbaum, his wife, Mary Jo (nee Conlin), and grandchildren, Megan, Joseph, and Timothy of Eagan; Col. Max Kirschbaum, his wife, Julie (nee Fleener) and grandchildren, Katie, Sam, and Elise, stationed in Yongsan Garrison, Republic of Korea; Mary Martin (nee Kirschbaum), her husband Dick and grandchildren, Ben, Kara, and Joel, serving as missionaries in Sentani, Papua, Indonesia. Other survivors include three sisters, Josephine Shumake of Marietta, Georgia; Jane Williams and her husband, Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia; and Nellie Ruth Ryder and her husband, J.S. of Pineville, Louisiana.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Joseph Carpenter.

She is remembered for her caring concern for anyone in need, her selfless dedication to her family, and by all for her ready sense of humor.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Alzheimer's Association, 4550 West 77th Street, Suite 200, Edina, MN 55435.