Frederick Olmschenk

Frederick E. "Fred" Olmschenk, age 46, of St. Martin, died Thursday, August 6, 2009 at the Melrose Area Hospital.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 11 a.m. Monday, August 10 at St. Martin Catholic Church in St. Martin with Rev. Corwin Collins officiating. Inurnment will take place at a later date.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the St. Martin Parish Center and one hour prior to the service at the parish center in St. Martin on Monday. Parish prayers will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday evening.

Frederick E. Olmschenk was born September 15, 1962 in Melrose to Herbert and Rose (Bertram) Olmschenk. Fred graduated from Melrose High School in 1981 and attended Alexandria Vocational and Technical College. At the age of 18, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After a two year battle he was in remission and began working at Jennie-O Foods in Melrose. After 15 years at Jennie- O he began working at Nahan Printing in Waite Park. He was united in marriage to Nancy Hanson at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Melrose. In 2007 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Fred was a member of St. Martin Catholic Church in St. Martin and the Sacred Heart of Mary Mission Group in St. Martin. Fred was a talented woodworker and enjoyed bowling with the Silver Spur team, fishing, hunting, camping, gardening and spending time with his family.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy of St. Martin; children, Jesse of Warroad, MN and Emily of St. Martin; siblings, Kathy (Dennis) Illies of Meire Grove, Norm (Kathy) Olmschenk of St. Martin, Barb (Dick) Weisenberger of St. Cloud, Jo (Mike) Flanders of Paynesville, Mike (Deb) Olmschenk of St. Martin, and Rose (Ken) McDonald of Orlando, Florida; mother-in-law, Delores Hanson of Long Prairie; brothers and sisters-in-law, Danny (Alice) Hanson of Long Prairie, Gloria (Terry) Kuperus of Long Prairie, Ronny Hanson of Long Prairie, and Barb Herding of Long Prairie; and many nieces and nephews.

Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Herbert and Rose Olmschenk; and father-in-law, Billy Hanson.

Serving as casket bearers will be Larry Fleischhacker, Ricky Doll, Gary Doll, Ron Doll, Maynard Zierden and Glen Arceneau. Serving as cross bearer will be Sarah (Olmschenk) Biggar. Mass servers will be Jesse Olmschenk and Dugan Flanders. Gift bearers will be Kathy Illies and Joni Barrett. Readers will be Missy Illies and Ryan Fuchs. Petitions will be read by Elishia Steele. The eulogy will be read by Gloria Kuperus.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.