Ralph Poepping

Ralph H. Poepping age 78, died of natural causes surrounded by his family on March 9, 2011 at St. Michael's Hospital in Sauk Centre.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12 noon Saturday, March 12th at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. Todd Schneider will officiate with interment following in the parish cemetery. Military honors will be provided by the Sauk Centre United Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and after 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at the church. Parish prayers will be held at 7 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.

Ralph H. Poepping was born on September 5, 1932 in Melrose to Henry and Ida (Luken) Poepping. Ralph attended school in St. Martin. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955. Ralph married Mildred Walz on June 19, 1956 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Ralph worked various jobs in Sauk Centre throughout his working life, retiring from Fleet Supply in 2000. He enjoyed dancing, bowling, making rosaries and many, many card games. Ralph was a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church where he was also an usher. He was also a member of the St. Joseph's Society and the Sauk Centre American Legion Post 67.

Ralph is survived by his wife Mildred "Millie" Poepping of Sauk Centre; children, Mike (Kay) Poepping of Sauk Centre, Ron (Diann) Poepping of Hutchinson, Cindy (Rick) Jensen of Westbrook, Jerry (Dawn) Poepping of Sauk Centre, Cheryl (Wayne) Bauer of Sauk Centre and Randy Poepping and fiancé Melanie Piner of St. Cloud; brothers and sister, Joseph (Mildred) Poepping of Sauk Centre, Bernie Ramler of Richmond, Beata (Sylvester) Theis of Cold Spring, Jerome (Rita) Poepping of St. Cloud and Alfred (June) Poepping of St. Cloud; 22 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

Ralph was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Frank Poepping and Norbert Poepping; and sister, Marie Thomes.

Serving as casket bearers will be Tyler Neumann, Jared Poepping, Michael Poepping, Todd Schmidt, Ty Schmidt, Bryant Poepping, Justin Swenson, and Brandon Poepping. Serving as cross bearer will be Kayla Neumann, scripture bearer will be Dawn M. Poepping and gift bearers will be Emily Poepping, Sarah Poepping, and Melissa Poepping.