1907
Vera
2007
Vera Oppertshauser
March 6, 1907 — February 22, 2007
Please note: ***Funeral services for Mrs. Vera (Schwenn) Oppertshauser, age 99, of Apple Valley, MN, have been postponed from Saturday, March 3rd, to Sunday, March 4th, at 2:30 p.m. at the Emanuel-Patterson Funeral Home in Milbank. The Reverend DeVern Schwenn will officiate. Miram Schwenn will be the organist. Vera died on Thursday, February 22, 2007, in Apple Valley twelve days before her 100th birthday. Please note: ***Visitation will be at the funeral home on Sunday one hour before services. Pallbearers will be Ben and David West; Ron, Wayne and Don Dragoo; Keith Erickson; adopted grandson, Steve McKinney; and grandnephew, Rick Schwenn. Please note: ***A private family graveside service will be held in the Milbank City Cemetery on Monday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to The American Bible Society, PO Box 98010, Washington, D.C. 20090-8010.
Vera May Oppertshauser was born on March 6, 1907, on the family farm near Corona, SD. She was the unexpected second half of a set of twins born to Edward and Martha (Zoschke) Schwenn. She attended a one-room school in Garfield Township, Roberts County, SD, going across pasturelands or down country lanes to get there. Vera was the only girl in the school until eighth grade when a kindergartner started. She always said she had seen enough of boys and years later asked the Lord to give her only girls, which He did! At age eighteen she attended the Chicago Evangelistic Institute in Chicago, Ill., and graduated with a certificate in early childhood education. This she used in children's work as a pastor's wife. Vera helped her mother on the farm until she met a young student from the Moody Bible Institute who was selling Fuller Brushes one summer. She and Harold were married at his uncle's house in Chicago on November 11, 1933. They served in churches in S.D., Washington and Oregon.
Her retirement years were spent visiting church members, quilt making, crocheting, knitting, and gardening. Vera and Harold went to live with their daughter in Richfield, MN, in 1999.
Grateful for having shared her life are her five daughters, Arlys Bauer, Littleton, CO; Arlene Erickson and her husband Dick, Richfield, MN; Yvonne West, Doris Wilson and her husband James, and Doreen Aldrich and her husband Fred, all of Beaverton, OR; twelve grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; three step great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; special friends Herman and Nel Swanson and Donna Lash; and friends from over the years.
Vera was preceded in death by her husband, parents, three brothers and their wives, one granddaughter, and one son-in-law.
Vera May Oppertshauser was born on March 6, 1907, on the family farm near Corona, SD. She was the unexpected second half of a set of twins born to Edward and Martha (Zoschke) Schwenn. She attended a one-room school in Garfield Township, Roberts County, SD, going across pasturelands or down country lanes to get there. Vera was the only girl in the school until eighth grade when a kindergartner started. She always said she had seen enough of boys and years later asked the Lord to give her only girls, which He did! At age eighteen she attended the Chicago Evangelistic Institute in Chicago, Ill., and graduated with a certificate in early childhood education. This she used in children's work as a pastor's wife. Vera helped her mother on the farm until she met a young student from the Moody Bible Institute who was selling Fuller Brushes one summer. She and Harold were married at his uncle's house in Chicago on November 11, 1933. They served in churches in S.D., Washington and Oregon.
Her retirement years were spent visiting church members, quilt making, crocheting, knitting, and gardening. Vera and Harold went to live with their daughter in Richfield, MN, in 1999.
Grateful for having shared her life are her five daughters, Arlys Bauer, Littleton, CO; Arlene Erickson and her husband Dick, Richfield, MN; Yvonne West, Doris Wilson and her husband James, and Doreen Aldrich and her husband Fred, all of Beaverton, OR; twelve grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; three step great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; special friends Herman and Nel Swanson and Donna Lash; and friends from over the years.
Vera was preceded in death by her husband, parents, three brothers and their wives, one granddaughter, and one son-in-law.