Violet Oletzke

Funeral Services for Violet Oletzke will be on Monday, July 2, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Browns Valley, MN. Visitation will be held Sunday evening, July 1, from 5 – 8:00 p.m, with a Prayer Service at 7:30 p.m. at Mundwiler and Larson Funeral Chapel in Browns Valley and also one hour prior to the services at the church on Monday. Reverend Paul Warnier will officiate and burial will be in the Midway Cemetery.

Violet Luella Esther Oletzke was born on May 21, 1922 to parents Otto Herman and Elsie Marie (Tietz) Rieck in Dotson, MN. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and grew up in the Beardsley area. She attended country schools through the 8th grade.

On April 30, 1943, Vi was united in marriage to Raymond Herman Oletzke in Webster, SD. To this union two children were born. They made their homes in Beardsley, California, northern and southern Minnesota, and Minneapolis. In May of 1968, Raymond passed away. Vi continued to live in Minneapolis until 1994 when she returned to Beardsley and lived with her sister Lill until 2010, when she moved into the Browns Valley Health Care Center.

Vi worked for the Neumeier family while living in Minneapolis and upon returning to Beardsley she continued to work part-time, cleaning St. Mary's Catholic Church and working for the Kamstra family.

Vi loved to do embroidery and she was very proud to have made many sets of dish towels for her family. She was a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Quilting Club. Vi could spend hours working outside in her yard, especially relishing the hummingbirds and wrens that lived amongst the flowers. She enjoyed playing cards and dominos with her family. She also enjoyed the many hours she spent volunteering in the Browns Valley Health Care Center's craft department.

Vi passed away on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at the Browns Valley Health Care Center, having reached the age of 90 years.

Cherishing her memory are her children: James (Phyl) Oletzke of Blaine, MN, and Sharon (Leonard) Bullock of Browns Valley; five grandchildren: Kris (Bruce) Seelig, Traci Oletzke, Chad Oletzke, Stacie (Matthew) Lenssen, and Jasen Bullock; three great grandchildren: Aleesha Oletzke, Abigail and Nicholas Lenssen; two sisters: Lillian Raatz of Beardsley and Shirley Hoffman of Browns Valley; her sister-in-law, Lorraine Rieck; and nieces and nephews.

Vi is preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her brothers: William, Robert, and Harold Rieck; her brothers-in-law: Odell Hoffman and William Raatz; and her sister-in-law, Germaine Reick.