Headlight Herald - Serving Tracy, Minnesota, since 1880

William J. Duscher, 96

William John Duscher age 96 of Lucan passed away on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at Prairie View Health Care Center in Tracy. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Lucan. Visitation will be held from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Interment is in Our Lady of Victory Catholic Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice.com. Stephens Funeral Service - Redwood Valley Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

William was born July 15, 1915 on the family farm near Gilfillan to William F. & Mary (Welter) Duscher. He was baptized and confirmed in Morgan. William attended country school east of Morgan. After his schooling, he worked on farms until March 1934 when he started working for Mike & Joe’s Restaurant. On November 4, 1941, he entered the US Army where he served in Company F during WWII. William was stationed in Fort Worden, WA until July 1943 when he was sent to the South Pacific in New Guinea for one year then to Manila in the Philippines until the end of the war. William received his honorable discharge January 8, 1946. He then returned to the Lucan area where he farmed for 34 years. William was united in marriage to Chloris Mahoney on November 19, 1946. Chloris passed away August 2, 1982. William then married Catherine Moudry on June 15, 1984 in Tracy. They then moved into Lucan in the fall of 1985 after his retirement. William continued helping area farmers and in the Lucan Hardware Store. William was a member of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church where he was active as an usher and grounds keeping at the cemetery. He was a member of the Foresters for 75 years and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed woodworking, gardening, fishing, playing cards, and dancing & polka music.

William is survived by his wife Catherine; sons: Kenneth (Barb) of Milroy, Harley (Tammy) of Willmar, Larry (Patti) of Bonners Ferry, ID, & Duane (Connie) of Lucan; five step children: Richard (Mary) Moudry, James (Betty) Moudry, Steve (Lisa) Moudry, Shirley (Lauren) Doppenberg, & Kathy (Clair) Erickson; 11 grandchildren and 13 step grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren and 28 step great grandchildren; brother Jim Duscher of Sleepy Eye; sister Delores (Elmer) Hartwig of North Mankato; and many other relatives and friends.

Preceding him in death are his parents, first wife Chloris, brothers: Ed, LeRoy, and Raymond; and sisters: Rose Malecha, Norma Honzay and Maryann Donner.

Loraine D. Mueller, 91

Loraine Dorothy Mueller, age 91, of Watertown, SD, formerly of Tracy, MN, passed away on Friday, December 9, 2011, at a hospital in Watertown, SD. She was the widow of Rev. Stanley Mueller.

Funeral services will be on Thursday, December 15, 2011, at 1:30 p.m. at Tracy United Methodist Church in Tracy. Rev. Craige Haberman will officiate. Music will be provided by Rev. Mark and Sherry Brickzin.

Burial will be in Lamberton Cemetery, Lamberton, MN. Honorary pallbearers will be Loraine’s great-grandchildren: Cody Woods, Justin Woods, Chanler Menshausen, Chelsea Menshausen, Brooke Janoski, and Brandon Janoski. Active pallbearers will be: Allen Dumke, Roger Berggren, Wayne Brock, Jim Donner, Bernel Schwanke, and Larry Mullinex.

Visitation will be at Crawford Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 5:00 p.m. with Rev. Sarah Nelson officiating. Visitation will continue at the church in Tracy prior to the services on Thursday.

Loraine was born in Sanborn, MN, on November 9, 1920, to Charles and Bertha (Pankonin) Schwanke. In 1937, she graduated from Sanborn High School.

She married Stanley Mueller on September 6, 1939. Loraine and her husband, a Methodist minister, lived in various communities serving their parishes.

Loraine’s first priority was her relationship to God and she was a prayer warrior for many friends and family members. Her warm loving spirit and smile made her a superior mother, grandmother, and friend who valued those relationships highly.

She became an award winning poet, piano teacher, choir director, certified Lay Speaker, and composer. Loraine was a member of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies and held state memberships in South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. She was also a member of the Poet’s Study Club of Indiana.

Loraine was listed in Who’s Who in US Writers, Editors and Poets, Hymn Society of America. She was published in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. In 1989, she published “Petals of Roses Falling”, a collection of her many award winning poems.

She is survived by her daughter, Jeanie Endres, of Watertown, SD; four grandchildren: Kimberly Winter of Tucson, AZ, Tamara Menshausen of Wantage, NJ, Loraine Woods of Sacramento, CA, and Dorian Dunlap of Chico, CA; six great-grandchildren; and one brother, Lyle Schwanke, of Springfield, MN.

Loraine was preceded in death by her husband, in 1983; one daughter, Eileen Dunlap; her parents; one brother; and four sisters.

She’ll be greatly missed. Heaven has one more angel.

For further information go to www.crawfordfuneralchapel.com

Charlotte Smith, 79

Charlotte Blanche (DeRider) Smith of Walnut Grove passed away Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in hospice near her winter home in Apache Junction, AZ after a protracted battle with COPD, complicated recently by pneumonia, 24 days before her eightieth birthday. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 13 at St. Paul Catholic Church in Walnut Grove. Visitation is 4:00-7:00 p.m. Monday at the Walnut Grove Funeral Home with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m. Visitation will continue one hour prior to services on Tuesday at the church. Interment is in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred. Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice.com. Stephens Funeral Service - Walnut Grove Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Charlotte was born on her family’s farm site near Russell MN December 30, 1931, graduated high school as valedictorian, then enrolled in Mankato State Teacher’s College. After nearly two years of college, she worked for an insurance company in Minneapolis for about a year. She had met her future husband Duane while still in high school in Russell, where Duane was working on an area farm.

Charlotte and Duane were married November 18, 1950 and from that date began a remarkable 50+ year farming career together at the home place south of Walnut Grove. Charlotte’s keen intellect and bookkeeping skills made her a natural for managing the complex financial interests of the farming business, and she carried out that role with great aplomb. She was an accomplished seamstress, cook, baker, canner, singer… essentially a ‘jill-of-all-trades’, which made her an indispensable partner with Duane in building their farming legacy. That intellect also served her well when enjoying one of her passions: card games. Poker, uchre, whist, 500…whatever the game, Charlotte’s bid-making and pot-winning abilities were admired by all her competition…and feared by many. And when harvest season came around, Charlotte was there to help the family with the demanding task of bringing in the crop. Duane is still proud of saying, “Charlotte could handle a thirty-foot bean head as good as anyone, and she never put even one scratch on that combine.” She imbued her seven children with her own character attributes of a strong work ethic, self-reliance, motivation, and confidence, encouraging their unique talents and abilities, and enabling them to achieve their various life successes. For 61 years, Charlotte and Duane lived their wedding vows: “for richer, for poorer”, “in sickness and in health”, and now has come the fulfillment of the final vow. Eternal good health and happiness are yours, Charlotte. We’ll miss you for now, but we’ll see you again soon.

Charlotte is survived by husband Duane Smith; daughters Kathy (Michael) Fiala and Belinda (John) Henle; sons: Blair (Tania) Smith, Guy (Elizabeth) Smith, Steven (Anne) Smith, David Smith, and Jeffrey Smith; many grandchildren and great grandchildren; sisters: Bonnie Thooft, Shirley Buechner, and Joan (Ray) VanLerberge; and many nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by parents Alice and Charles DeRider, sisters Betty Moat and Carol Lang and brothers Merlin DeRider, Charles (Jr.) DeRider, Donald DeRider, and James DeRider.