Irene Walther

Irene S. Walther, age 83 of Sauk Centre, died Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota following heart surgery.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 21 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. Marty Porter will officiate with interment following in Greenwood Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and at the church one hour prior to the service Monday. Sauk Centre United Auxiliaries prayer service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home.

Irene Walther was born February 2, 1925 in Villard, Minnesota to Bernhardt and Emma (Thode) Volkmann. On September 8, 1945 she married Clarence Walther at the Zion Lutheran Church parsonage in Alexandria, Minnesota. The couple farmed near Westport, Osakis, and Sauk Centre. Since 1971 they had resided in Sauk Centre. She had been employed at Bob Freeman's Grocery and Cafe. For 12 years she had been the head cook at Sauk Centre High School, retiring in 1986.Irene was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Ladies Aid, and Paul F. Donart VFW Post 2853 Auxiliary. She enjoyed embroidery, gardening, and playing cards.

Survivors include four children, Wallace (Jane) Walther of St. Cloud, DiAnn Ware of Fountain Hills, Arizona, LeRoy (Pam) DoroshWalther of Coon Rapids, and Caroline Kloos of Fountain Hills, Arizona; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Clarence Walther on April 24, 2008; granddaughters, Jade DoroshWalther and Melissa Walther; sisters, Vivian Potter and Reva Lindsey; and brother, Leo Volkmann.

Serving as casket bearers will be her grandchildren, Mike, Jeff, and Eric Walther, Dominique and Shalan Ware, Blair and Tyler DoroshWalther, and Abby Kloos.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Zion Lutheran Church and St. Michael's Hospital in Sauk Centre.