Wokasch Family

Genealogy, family history, obituaries, and more…

Thomas Peter Wokasch

Jun 8

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Photos, Wokasch family

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Thomas Peter Wokasch, 82, of 316 E. Eleventh St., died Sunday night at his home from a heart attack. He had been home two days after being hospitalized in Fairmont for seven weeks with another ailment.

Mr. Wokasch was born April 9, 1885 in New Ulm, moving with his parents to Elm Creek township.

He was married in Fairmont Aug. 30, 1908 to Hilma Elfert.

For many years he was a tinsmith and plumber for the former Houghtaling and Could Hardware in Fairmont, later operating his own poultry business.

Surviving are his wife and a son and daughter, Floyd Wokasch and Mrs. Alvin Ring, both of Fairmont. There are six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A brother, Henry, also resides in Fairmont.

Olson Funeral Home of Fairmont will be in charge of funeral arrangements which have not been completed.

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Timothy Wayne Wokasch

Jun 5

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Wokasch family

Timothy Wayne Wokasch, 25, Frazee, Minn., died Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999, in his home.

He was born Jan. 4, 1974, in Detroit Lakes, Minn. He grew up near Frazee and graduated from Frazee High School in 1992. He attended the North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, then worked for BTD in Detroit Lakes and Audubon (Minn.) Engineering. On June 21, 1997, he married Jessi Puttbrese near Frazee.

He is survived by his wife; his parents, John and Elaine Wokasch, Frazee; four brothers, Greg (Shelly), John Jr., both Frazee, Marty, Detroit Lakes, Robert (Paula), Badger, Minn.; a sister, Rebecca (Mike) Morris, Rochert, Minn.; and grandmothers, Leila Wokasch, Detroit Lakes, Lenora Golkowski, Frazee, Alice Puttbrese, Rochert.

Visitation: Sunday from 4 to 8, with a prayer service at 7, in Furey Funeral Home, Frazee, and one hour before the funeral in the church.

Funeral: Monday at 3 in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Evergreen near Frazee.

Burial: Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, Frazee.

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Jessie Wokasch (Williams)

Jun 4

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Wokasch family, genealogy

HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD — 4/15/1985
Jessie Wokasch

Jessie Wokasch of 1704 Williams St. died at St. Peter’s Community Hospital early Monday morning after an illness of several weeks. She was 70.

Born in Marysville Jan. 13, 1915, to William and Anna Williams, she attended schools in Marysville and in Helena.

She married Lloyd Wokasch in Helena on Oct. 8, 1936. They made their home in Helena since 1942.

Mrs. Wokasch was a member of the Marysville Pioneers.

Surviving is her husband; a daughter, Wanda Lee Powers of Freemont, Calif.; four brothers, Russell and Will Williams of Helena, Charles of Fairfield and Roger of Sequim, Wash.; three sisters Gladys Wendstrom and Helen Smigaj, both of Helena, and Lottie Rector of Pendleton, Ore.; and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Retz Funeral Home.

HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD — 4/16/1985

Jessie Wokasch pallbearers
Funeral services for Jessie Wokasch will be conducted Thursday at 11 am at the Retz Funeral Chapel with the REv. George Harper officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Mrs. Wokasch died early Monday morning at St. Peter’s Community Hospital. She was 70.

Pallbearers will be Gary Smigaj, Bill Whyte, George and Don Larson, Ronnie Schatz and Bob O’Connell.

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Duane E. Wokasch

Jun 4

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Photos, Wokasch family

Duane Wokasch (Cass Lake Times, August 5, 1999)
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Duane E. Wokasch of rural Cass Lake died July 28, 1999, at his home.

Funeral services were held Aug. 2 at the Minnesota State Veteran’s Cemetery Chapel in rural Little Falls, MN with the Rev. Gerald Algers officiating. Interment was at the Minnesota State Veteran’s cemetery with military honors by the Brainerd American Legion Post.

He was born March 27, 1933, in Fairmont, MN, the son of Floyd and Harriet (Kessler) Wokasch. He was raised and educated in Fairmont. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict and served in Korea with Company “G” of the 31st Infantry. He married Mary Ann Gunderson on Sept 18, 1954, in Jackson, MN. They moved to Minneapolis where he managed a finance office. In 1969, they moved to Buffalo Lake where he was employed by the Gronseth Telephone Company in advertising sales for the Yellow Pages telephone directory. They moved to the Cass Lake area in 1980. He retired in 1990. They made their home near Birch Ridge Resort on Leech Lake. He helped organize Ottertail Peninsula into a township. He was a member of the Ottertail Peninsula Township Board, serving as supervisor in 1987 to 1990.

He enjoyed the outdoors and loved to hunt, fish and go wild ricing; and he also loved to cook.

He was a lifetime member of the Sebeka American Legion.

He is survived by a daughter, Patricia (Neil) Burgstahler of Stewart, MN; three sons: Thomas (Gail Leese) Wokasch of East Dubuque, IL., Michael (Barbara) Wokasch of East Olive, MI, and 1SG Mark Wokasch of Fort Drum, NY; a sister, Janice Hudson of Fairmont, MN; two grandchildren, Elisa and Rilee; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife on Oct 12, 1995; his parents; a brother, Robert; and a sister, Delores.

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Margaret Wokasch (Doubek)

May 31

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Wokasch family

Margaret Wokasch
Margaret M. Wokasch, 95, of Nile Health Care Center in Minneapolis, died May 18.

Mrs. Wokasch was born on Feb. 15, 1902 to Frank and Antonia (Levenez) Doubek in Rice Lake.

She was a retiree of Char-Lynn and a member of many singing groups in the Minneapolis area, the last being the Happy Re-treads.
Survivors include two sons, Russell and William; four daughters, Elizabeth Edlund, Rita Wokasch, Donna Wiese and Margaret Pfeifer; and 23 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild. She is also survived by nieces and nephews in the Rice Lake area. Her husband, William Wokasch, died in 1949.

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Distress on the East Side; Hundreds of Families Without Work or Food

May 31

Posted by Mike Wokasch in In the news, genealogy

This is an interesting article from the New York Times from March 3, 1894 that discusses the distress of a Wokasch family of eight.  My best guess is that this is the original Adolph Wokasch family.  But it is possible that there is another Wokasch family.

That portion of the city east of Second Avenue, between Seventieth and Ninetieth Streets, is populated by large numbers of working people about whose poverty not much has been said heretofore, because they have struggled bravely against misfortune, and have made their wants known only when starvation and eviction stared them in the face.  It is the district where most of the cigars produced in New York are made–the tenement-house cigar shop district, where thousands of men, women, and children are huddled together, making cheap cigars by day and by night, and inhaling a heavy, rank atmosphere.

Miss E. Wells, Principal of the Jones Memorial School, at 417 East Seventy-third Street, has written to the Business Men’s Committee of the Industrial Christian Alliance, saying that the opening of a people’s restaurant and cheap grocery store would be very beneficial in that district, where hundreds of families are without any work, and have very little relief.  From Seventieth to Seventy-eight Street, east of Second Avenue, there are large numbers of working people, chiefly Bohemian cigarmakers, who are suffering from the effects of strikes.  Many families are in debt for the necessaries of life.  Their rents are long overdue, and the tradesmen feel discouraged by the inability of the people to meet their obligations.  Miss Wells has in her school nearly 500 children from the poorest families.  Over 300 of them are fed daily at the school, and the meals they get there are the only good ones that they eat during the day.  She wishes the committee to send some one to investigate her statements.

1894 MAR 3 – New York Times – Distress on the East Side.

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Mary Ann Wokasch

May 30

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Obituaries, Wokasch family

Mary Ann Wokasch (Cass Lake Times)
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Mary Ann Wokasch, 62, of rural Cass Lake, died Oct. 12, 1995 at her home.

Funeral services were held Oct. 16 at the Cease Family Funeral Home in Cass Lake with the Rev. Gerald Algers officiating. Interment will be at the Minnesota State Veteran’s Cemetery in Little Falls, MN.

She was born on Oct. 5, 1933, at Wallingford, Iowa the daughter of Alfred and Helene Gunderson. Her father died when she was 2 years old. Her mother later married Mark Husby, who became her stepfather.

They moved to Jackson, MN where she was raised and educated, graduating from Jackson H. S. in 1951. She attended Business College in Iowa.

She married Duane Wokasch on Sept. 18, 1954 in Jackson. They moved to Minneapolis where she worked as a secretary at the Public Health Center.

They moved to Buffalo Lake, MN in 1969 where she worked at the Buffalo Lake Nursing Home and also the school district. In 1980, they moved to the Cass Lake area, residing on Leech Lake.

She is survived by her husband, Duane of Cass Lake; three sons; Thomas (Gail) Wokasch of Camano Island, Wash., Michael (Barbara) Wokasch of Holland, Michigan, and Mark Wokasch of Ft. Hood, Texas; and a daughter, Patricia (Neil) Burgstahler of Stewart, MN.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Helen Davies, and three brothers: Leroy, Sherman and Alan.

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Frank S. Henn

May 28

Posted by Mike Wokasch in Henn family, Obituaries

Frank S. Henn of Frazee Dies At Age of 88

Frank and Mary's Wedding Photo

Frank and Mary's Wedding Photo

FRAZEE — Frank S. Henn, 88, died Wednesday evening at St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit Lakes.

Mr. Henn was born in New Jersey Dec. 26, 1873, and had lived in the Frazee vicinity since 1907. He was married to Mary Schmitz at the St. Joesph Catholic church near Perham Nov. 4, 1897. She preceded him in death in 1926.

Surviving are three sonds, George of Frazee; Alex of Perham; Leo of Little Falls; and five daughters, Mrs. C. W. (Louise) Bradshaw, Sacramenta; Mrs. O. Ben (Ann) Olson, Barnesville; Mrs. Gordon (Hilda) Nunn, Frazee; Mrs. Ray (Katherine) Katze, Deer Creek; and Mrs. Milo (Madelon) Huntley, Minneapolis; also three sisters, Mrs. Clara Berger and Mrs. Catherine Wokasch, both of Frazee; and Mrs. Elizabeth Alzheimer, Collins, Mont.; and one brother, Carl of Frazee. there are 18 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren left to cherish his memory. One son William died in 1956.

Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 15, at the Sacred Heart church of which he was a member. The Rev. Fr. Monsignor Adam Junghans will officiate. Rosary will be at eight Friday evening at the Sacred Heart church. Friends may call all day Friday until 7 p.m. at the Miller Funeral Chapel in Frazee. Interment Saturday will be in the church cemetery.

1961 JUL 13 – Daily Journal – Frank S. Henn dies at age of 88

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Elmer Wokasch: “Hand caught in Corn Husker”

May 27

Posted by Mike Wokasch in In the news, Wokasch family, genealogy

Here’s a newspaper clipping about Elmer Wokasch:
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HAND CAUGHT IN CORNHUSKER

Employee in Fairmont Canning Company Badly Injured—Hand Remains in Machine Until Apparatus Is Taken Apart.

Fairmont, Aug 20 —Elmer Wokasch Fairmont canning company employee, suffered a badly crushed left thumb and torn left hand late Tuesday at plant No 2 when the hand was caught m a corn husking machine.

Officials feared Wokasch’s hand had been torn off in the gears of the machine and advised that it not be removed until doctors arrived.

Medical men supervised work of taking the husker apart while Wokasch gritted his teeth but withstood the intense pain. He was taken to the clinic weak from shock and released this morning Doctors thought he would regain full use of the hand in about two weeks.

1931 August 20, Evening Tribune.

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1964 – Harriet & Delores Wokasch

May 27

Posted by Mike Wokasch in In the news, genealogy, research

Newspaper clippings about the death of Harriet Wokasch and her daughter Delores Wokasch. Delores (Babe) Wokasch Harriet Theresa Wokasch (Kessler)

2 Fairmont Women Die In Car-Truck Collision

MANKATO, Minn. (AP)—Two Fairmont, Minn., women, mother and daughter, were killed today in the grinding headon collision of their car and a heavily loaded truck. Killed were Delores A. Wokasch, 34, a Fairmont telephone operator, and her mother, Harriet, 53. Mrs. Floyd Wokasch.

The two had spent the night in St. Peter, Minn., and left for Fairmont early in the morning, with the daughter driving. Miss Wokasch, a telephone worker for 16 years, was due at her switchboard at 7 a.m. — about 1 1/2 hours after the crash occurred.

The women had driven to St. Peter Wednesday. Miss Wokasch’s birthday, and had decorated graves for Memorial Day.

They stayed overnight at the St. Peter home of Mrs. Wokasch’s sister, Mrs. Harold Hudson.

Their car, and a truck carrying 44,000 pounds of watermelons collided about 5-20 a.m. on Highway 60 about a half mile southwest of the Highway 169 intersection.

The truck driver, Robert F. Agard, 31, Haines City, Fla., escaped injury.

Coroner Wallace E. Mathews said Delores Wokasch was pinned in the wreckage. Police said the Wokasch car was hurled back 82 feet by the impact and landed in the ditch.

The truck trailer crashed in the ditch on one side of the road and the tractor section plunged into the ditch on the opposite side. The car was traveling southwest, apparently headed for Fairmont.

The deaths raised the Minnesota highway toll to 282, compared with 270 through this date a year ago.

1964 May 28, The Evening Tribune.

Two are killed near Mankato
MANKATO, “Minn. (AP) – Harriet Wokasch, 63, and Delores Wokasch, 34, of Fairmont Minn., were killed Thursday in a car-truck collision five mile; south of here on Highway 60.

The truck, loaded with 44,000 pounds of watermelons, was driven by Robert Agard, 31, of Florida. He was not hurt.

1964 May 28 – Mason City Globe

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) – An Oklahoma truck driver was acquitted
Wednesday of an proper highway lane use charge growing out of a fatal accident near Mankato.

A municipal court jury deliberated 30 minutes before bringing in an innocent verdict for Robert F. Agard, 31, Muskogee, Okla.

Agard drove a semitrailer truck that collided with a car last Friday. Mrs. Floyd Wokasch, 53, Fairmont, and her daughter, Delores, 34, were killed.
Agard testified he crossed the center line only after seeing the Wokasch car coming directly at him in his lane.

1964 June 05 – Winona Daily News – Driver cleared in Mankato Crash

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