Herman Petermeier

Herman H. Petermeier, age 107 years and 6 months, of Freeport, died Sunday, September 6, 2015 at the Mother of Mercy Nursing Home in Albany. Herman died as the result of a fall, not his age.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, September 10 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport with Rev. Virgil Petermeier, osc officiating and Rev. Dan Walz concelebrating. Interment will be in parish cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday at the church in Freeport. Parish prayers will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Herman Henry Petermeier was born February 18, 1908 in Millwood Township, Stearns County, Minnesota to Benedict and Mary (Kemper) Petermeier. On September 24, 1935 he married Mary Westendorf at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Melrose. The couple farmed north of Freeport for 40 years before moving to town. Herman called his farm the "Evergreen Farm" and planted hundreds of evergreens, apple, plum, and other types of trees. He was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport.

Herman enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping, and bee keeping. He also enjoyed fishing trips with his five sons to Canada and trips to Hawaii with his wife, Mary.

Survivors include his eight children, Jerry (Marge) Petermeier of Grand Rapids, Ben (Mary) Petermeier of Grey Eagle, Ray Petermeier of Galveston, IN, Don Petermeier of Melrose, Arlene (Arian) Knops of Bruce, WI, Charles Petermeier of Santa Fe, NM, Susan (Miles) Wagner of Honolulu, HI, and Nona (Vince) Johnson of Maplewood; 27 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Herman was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Petermeier; infant son, Boniface Petermeier; daughter-in-law, Shirley Petermeier; brother and sister-in-law, Ed and Loretta Petermeier.

A special thank you to the staff at Mother of Mercy Nursing Home and CHI Home Health and Hospice of Albany for the excellent care they gave Herman.

Serving as casket bearers will be Jerry, Ben, Ray, Don, Charles, and Brian Petermeier. Cross bearer will be Nona Johnson and scripture bearer will be Pam Stull.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.