Mildred "Millie" Nienaber

Mildred H. “Millie” Nienaber, age 84 of Freeport, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 5 at the CentraCare Care Center in Melrose, Minnesota. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 13 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport with Rev. Daniel Walz officiating.  Interment will be in the parish cemetery. 

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport. Parish prayers will be held at 4 p.m. followed by the Christian Women and Catholic United Financial #101 at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening at the funeral home.

Mildred Helen Heinen was born February 5, 1939 in Saint Anthony, Minnesota to Martin and Anna (Eiynck) Heinen. As a young woman, Millie worked at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud. She was united in marriage to Richard Nienaber on April 19, 1961 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in St. Anthony. The couple settled on a farm near Freeport where Millie was a farmwife and homemaker. Millie always said that her favorite way to show love to her family was to cook for them, and she was an excellent cook and baker, especially when it came to her apple pies.

Millie began working at Melrose Area Schools as a cook and baker in 1987 and retired in 2017. One of Millie’s accomplishments that she was proud of was earning her GED in 2007, one week prior to her oldest grandchild’s graduation.

She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport, Christian Women, and Catholic United Financial. She was an active member of her faith community serving in many roles. Millie enjoyed cooking and baking, gardening, walking and biking on the trail, reading, embroidering, and also enjoyed volunteering for Meals on Wheels.

Survivors include her husband, Richard Nienaber of Melrose; children, Kate Nienaber-Gapinski (Rick) of Cold Spring, Daniel (Cindy) Nienaber of Albany, Michael (Susan) Nienaber of Osakis, and Charles (Sheri) Nienaber of Freeport; 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren with two on the way; brothers and sisters, Delores (Bob) Weyer of Sauk Rapids, David (Margaret) Heinen of Sartell, Rosemary Nienaber of Burtrum, Vernon (Karen) Heinen of Albany, and Gerald (Ione) Heinen of Albany.

Millie was preceded in death by her parents; son, Clifford Nienaber; brothers and sisters, Anna, Norbert, Dorothy, Margaret, and Arnold.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Sacred Heart School in Freeport.