Erma Groetsch

Erma M. Groetsch, age 83 of Sauk Centre, died on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, August 2 at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. Todd Schneider will officiate with interment following in St. Paul's Cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. Sauk Centre Seniors will pray at 4 p.m. followed by parish prayers at 5:15 p.m. and Christian Mothers and St. Margaret's Mission Group at 7 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home in Sauk Centre.

Erma Groetsch was born on March 24, 1921 in Elrosa, Minnesota to Joseph and Lucia (Flading) Tschida. On May 13, 1947 she was united in marriage to Leander Groetsch at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. The couple farmed near Albany and then near Sauk Centre, in Getty Township, Stearns County, for forty years. They retired in 1994 and moved to Sauk Centre in 2002. She was a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church, Christian Mothers, St. Margaret's Mission Group, Sauk Centre Seniors and Lyman Prairie Homemakers Club. Erma collected recipe cards, kept a daily journal of the weather and she loved to quilt, cook, bake and play cards.

Survivors include three sons, Kenneth (Florence) Groetsch, Dennis (Alice) Groetsch and Randy (Marlene) Groetsch, all of Sauk Centre; nine grandchildren; three great grandchildren; and sister, Evelyn Douvier of Glenwood.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Leander on June 7, 2004; sisters, Regine Douvier and Betty Spier; and infant sister, Mary.

Casket bearers will be her grandsons, Jonathan, Jamey, Joel, Joshua, Kevin and Corey Groetsch with Matthew Groetsch serving as cross bearer.