Geneieve Hannaman

Geneieve J. "Gen" Hannaman, age 81 of Melrose, passed away peacefully and was surrounded by her family on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at the CentraCare Health Nursing Home in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, April 11 at Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Melrose with Rev. David Mommens officiating. Inurnment will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 16 at Oak Hill Cemetery in Melrose.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and from 12 to 1 p.m. Monday at Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Melrose. The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 101 will pray at 7 p.m. Sunday evening at the church.

Geneieve Jean Schmidtke was born February 20, 1935 in Pineville, Missouri to William and Jennie (Atwell) Schmidtke. She attended St. Paul's Lutheran School in Fairmont through the eighth grade and earned her GED through the public school in Fairmont. She was united in marriage to Gordon Hannaman on November 20, 1953 in Seattle, Washington. Gen worked at the Fairmont Canning Company and 3M Manufacturing in Fairmont. She also worked at Kraft Foods in New Ulm and Jennie-O Foods in Melrose. Gen retired at age 40 to take care of her grandchildren in her home in rural Melrose.

She was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Melrose where she taught Sunday school when her children were young. Gen also served in the kitchen at church for bible school and was part of the ladies aide group at church. She was also a member of the American Legion Unit 101 Auxiliary in Melrose. Gen enjoyed quilting, bowling, canning her garden produce and loved spending time with her grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband, Gordon "Gordy" Hannaman of Melrose; loving children, Larry Hannaman of St. Cloud, Jennie (Michael Schaab) Schmidtke of Melrose, and Kim Schwieters of Waco, Texas; 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; and sisters, Florence Kehr and Dorothy Arndt.
Gen was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Arthur, Bill, and Sam Schmidtke; and sisters, Sandra Asmus, Henrietta Davenport, and Rozella Millsaps.

Serving as casket bearers will be Shawn Williams, Shannon Williams, Sheena Hoeschen, Sherri Verdon, Aaron Schwieters, and Connor Hannaman. Honorary bearers will be Jessica Schwieters, Jon Schaab, Lynnea Schwieters, Rae Ann Gallatti, and Kiana Hannaman.