Luella Schwanke

Luella L. Schwanke, age 96 of Sauk Centre, died Saturday, December 23, 2006 at St. Michael's Hospital in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 27 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. John Grein will officiate with interment following in Greenwood Cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church.

Luella Schwanke was born October 8, 1910 in Kimball, Minnesota to Henry and Emma (Schmidt) Meyer. On April 14, 1930 she married Edwin Lackmann at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Swanville. The couple resided in Long Prairie. He preceded her in death on October 5, 1940. Luella married Edgar F. Schwanke on May 2, 1944 at Trinity Lutheran Church parsonage in Long Prairie. The couple farmed in West Union Township, Todd County, Minnesota until 1962 when they moved to West Union. She was employed as a nurse's aid at the Sarepta Home in Sauk Centre for over ten years. She moved to Sauk Centre in 1979 and since April of 1996 had resided at St. Michael's Nursing Home.She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday school for ten years, and was a member of the Ladies Aid. She had been active in 4-H and was a member of the Sauk Centre Seniors.

Survivors include three children, Marlene Heiliger of Sanborn, Iowa, David (Aurelia) Schwanke of St. Cloud and Donald (Ruth) Schwanke of Buffalo; seven grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren; one great-great granddaughter; brother, Ervin (Betty) Meyer of Long Prairie; sister, Alice Johnson of Cando, North Dakota; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her two husbands, Edwin Lackmann on October 5, 1940 and Edgar Schwanke on October 31, 1978; her parents; son-in-law, George Heiliger; and sisters, Grace Mortenson and Laura Hartwig.

Serving as casket bearers will be Tom Warman, Heath Schwanke, Wayne and Gerald Hartwig, Mark Mortenson and Michael Meyer. Honorary bearers will be the Ladies Aid of Zion Lutheran Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.