Lavern P Welke

She was born on June 13, 1916, in Brownsville Township, Houston County, Minnesota, to Edward and Lilly (Albrecht) Meinzer. She married Leonard G. Welke on November 18, 1937, in Brownsville, Minn. He preceded her in death on February 26, 2005.

LaVern and Leonard farmed in Butterfield Valley in rural Hokah for many years before retiring in 1966 and moving to Hokah. She served as organist for 75 years at the Community Church of Hokah.

LaVern is survived by one daughter, Sharon (Ken) Ducke of Hokah; five grandchildren, Cheryl (Keith) Graham and Troy (Kelly) Flatten of Hokah, Lynn (Mike) Blank of Onalaska, Wis., Colleen Ducke of Green Bay, Wis., and Scott (Lisa) Ducke of Middleton, Wis.; nine great grandchildren, Ryan, Andrew, Alex, Emily, Jacob, Taylor, Keegan, Peyton and Jaiso; one sister, Phyllis Pille Kelly of Hokah; and one nephew, James (Sue) Pille of Crystal Beach, Fla. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents.

The family would like to thank Dr. Peter Franta and the nurses at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crescent and Jane Hoffman for all their help in caring for LaVern.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, November 29th, at 11:00 a.m., at the Community Church of Hokah. Pastor David A. Possing will officiate. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery, Hokah. Friends may call at the church on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of services. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Community Church of Hokah Building Fund or the Mount Hope Cemetery Association. The Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home of La Crescent is assisting the family with arrangements.