Thief River Falls - Adolph Schmidtke, 87, died on Friday, January 30, 1998 at the CNC Unit of Northwest Medical Center in Thief River Falls.
Funeral services were held on Tuesday, February 3 at 11 a.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada with Reverend Albert Maier officiating. Abe Friesen was the organist, and vocal music was provided by Jo Tenner. Casketbearers were Dwayne Auch, Tim Auch, Hilton Friesen, Herman Kasper, Alvin Rattai and Ernie Toess. Military honors were afforded by the Legion Post. Burial was at the church cemetery in Hanover Municipality, near Steinbach. Arrangements were with the Green Funeral Home of Thief River Falls.
Adolf "Adolph" Schmidtke was born on July 25, 1910 to Adolph and Rosalee (Mueller) Schmidtke in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. He attended elementary school near Steinbach. As a young man, he worked as a laborer on several farms in Canada and later in timber cutting and wood hauling.
On January 26, 1944 he enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in theaters of service in Canada, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. He was honorably discharged on October 1, 1946. He returned to Canada and worked in Quebec and Ontario before moving to the United States in 1952. Adolph lived in many places and worked at various jobs in the United States including 18 years in a steel warehouse in Portland,OR. He also lived in New Orleans, LA; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Minot, ND and Minneapolis before moving to Thief River Falls in 1996.
Adolph is survived by two sisters, Julianna Friesen of Steinbach, Manitoba and Cadie Unger of Pontrilias, Saskatchewan, Canada; and several nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Eduard, Edmund and Walter; one niece; and one nephew.