Marie G. Tessmer, 91, of Clermont, died Sunday, May 26, 2013, at the Good Samaritan Home in Postville.
Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m., Thursday, May 30, 2013, at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Hawkeye. Interment will be at Alpha Cemetery. Friends may call from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Hawkeye and for one hour preceding services at funeral home on Thursday. Memorials may be made to the Alpha Cemetery lawn care fund, c/o Garry Tubbs, 24954 Johnsons Mill Rd., Alpha, IA 52171.
Marie Gertrude, daughter of Heinrich and Martha Schmaedeke Schuldt, was born January 16, 1922, in Readlyn, Iowa. She was baptized at home on the same day by Rev. C. Meyer. She was confirmed April 5, 1936, at St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner by Rev. C.J. Mardorf. She received her education in the Sumner schools, graduating from Sumner High School in 1939. She received business training in Waterloo after high school. On May 12, 1941, she was united in marriage with Dean F. Tessmer at St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner. The couple farmed in several areas and Marie assisted her husband in their farming operation while raising their children. In addition to her duties as a homemaker, Marie also was a doll maker and enjoyed sewing. She became a resident of the Good Samaritan Home in Postville in December of 2012, after living in Clermont for many years.
She is survived by one daughter, Sally (Russell) Schlatter of Arlington Heights, Illinois; three sons, Butch (Jeanne) Tessmer of Elgin, Michael (Gloria) Tessmer of Onalaska, Wisconsin, and Jay Tessmer of Clermont; eleven grandchildren,; fourteen great grandchildren; one sister, Cecilia Bassler of Waterloo; and three sisters-in-law, Bernice Tessmer of Tripoli, Della Reiser of Fredericksburg, and Mille Tessmer of Campbell, Minnesota.
Marie was preceded in death by her husband, Dean, who died September 19, 1999; one daughter, Dr. Susan Tessmer Coiner; three brothers, Vern, Henry, and Alfred Schuldt; and one sister, Renetta Egbert.
