Erma Winter

Erma Gertrude (Seitz) Winter, 97, of Parkview Center, Melrose died peacefully on Friday, March 31st at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Friends may call from 3:00 - 5:00 PM on Tuesday, April 4th, at Sacred Heart Church in Freeport.

Funeral services celebrating her life will be at 5:00 PM Tuesday, April 4th at Sacred Heart Church, Freeport, Minnesota. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Erma Gertrude Winter was born April 11, 1908 in Freeport, Minnesota to Michael and Mary (Welle) Seitz. Erma's love of music started early as an organist at her parish church. She always had a piano in her home and continued to play her whole life. She was especially happy to play for her young relatives and often drew a crowd with her apartment door open, delighting the other residents of Parkview Center.Erma spent her early years working as a housekeeper for St. John's priests in New York and New Jersey. During W.W.II she worked in a defense factory, and later as a hospital baker and then at her favorite job as a millinery specialist selling hats in St. Paul.She moved to Virginia, Minnesota in 1958 and married Ed Winter. Many family members look back fondly upon the fun times at their place on Lake Vermilion picking blueberries, catching fish and watching the beautiful sunsets. She was very proud of having caught a huge northern pike to win a St. Paul Pioneer Press fishing contest.Erma enjoyed all her nieces, nephews and grandchildren's visits and loved telling about seeing the Hindenburg crash and being one of the first people on public television at the New York World's Fair in 1939.She had a great sense of style and enjoyed looking dressed up, complete with matching hat, even to the point of insisting that her burial dress not clash with the lining of the casket. She felt you should always look good, no matter how you feel. Erma enjoyed reading and keeping up on local and national news as well as following the Twins and Vikings through thick and thin. She believed in learning new things, taking many community education classes, even buying and using a laptop computer in her nineties.While spending the last 15 years in Parkview Center she often volunteered at the adjacent nursing home helping the "old people", most of whom were younger than her. She continued to lead the rosary at chapel, her favorite means of prayer, up until this week when she went into the hospital.

She is survived by her brother Joseph Seitz of Avon and her sisters Margaret Williams of St. Paul, Rita Rosenthal of Forest Lake; sisters-in-law, Rita Seitz of St. Paul, Marie Seitz of Albany; children, Dr. Michael Winter of Eagan, Mary Linnemann (John) of Melrose, Suzanne Horoshak (Bill) of Eveleth, and Patricia Duginski (Dr. Thomas) of San Antonio, Texas; 7 grandchildren, Thomas, Robert and Michael Linnemann, Chad and Todd Winter, and Christy and Mark Duginski; and one great-grandson, Issac Linnemann.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Edmund; brothers Fr. Cyprian Seitz O.S.B., Edwin Seitz, Fr. Aloysius Seitz, Benedict Seitz; and sister Marie Allen.

The family would like to thank the staff of Parkview Center, Melrose Hospital, and St. Cloud Hospital for their care and compassion.

Casket bearers will be Thomas, Robert and Michael Linnemann, Chad and Todd Winter and Mary Fjellman. Cross bearer will be Christy Duginski. Scripture bearer will be Mark Duginski. Honorary bearers will be Mary Ann Youso, Michael Seitz, James Williams and Richard Seitz.

Memorials preferred to the Sacred Heart Church and St. John's Abbey Hospitality House.