Obituaries

Stephen D. Mayers

Stephen D. “Steve” Mayers, age 67 of Melrose, passed away on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A memorial service will be held 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1 at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Deacon Ernie Kociemba officiating. Inurnment will be held at a later date in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Stephen Douglas Mayers was born June 13, 1955 in Melrose, Minnesota to Donald and Jeanette (Braun) Mayers. He graduated from Melrose High School in 1974. He worked at Kraft in Melrose and various other jobs as time went on. Steve enjoyed watching movies, especially westerns, and loved playing BINGO.

Survivors include his children, Tammy Mayers of Sauk Centre and Clifton Mayers of Sauk Centre; grandchildren, James Thomas Mayers and Michael Mayers; brothers and sisters, Tom (Tracy) Mayers of Sauk Rapids, Luan (Steve) Weber of Cold Spring, Rick (Jenny) Mayers of Melrose, Brian (Kelly) Mayers of Sartell, and Linda (Harvey) Keller of Melrose; special friend, Lynn Duerr-Karash; and many nieces and nephews.

Steve was preceded in death by his parents; and brother, James “Sticky” Mayers on October 15, 1983.

Memorials are preferred.

Arrangements were made with Patton-Schad Funeral and Cremation Services of Melrose.

Alice A Siegle

A celebration of life will be held at 11:30 AM -2:30 PM on Sunday, April 30, 2023 at the Long Prairie Country Club for Alice Siegle, 82, who passed away on March 26, 2023 at the Long Prairie Nursing Home.

Alice was born on September 10, 1940 to Al and Louise (Laing) Uphoff in New Munich, MN. She married Floyd Siegle on February 11, 1961 in Long Prairie. The couple raised three children, Steve, Mark and Dianne. Alice worked at Banta Publications for many years and retired in 2002 as a Proof Reader.

Alice was active with the Todd County Historical Society and a founding member of Grandmas for the Beach. She enjoyed spending time with the ladies in the Red Hat Club and also enjoyed reading and was an active member of her literary club. She enjoyed gardening and was especially fond of flowers. She shared many fond memories of her travels, both in the U.S. and abroad. She will be remembered by many as a sweet lady who had a little bit of sassy wit.

She is survived by her sons, Steven (Marie) and Mark both of Long Prairie; daughter, Dianne (Henry) Buelow of St. Stephen; sisters, Lou (Jerry) Kaiser of Zumbrota and Judy (Dave) Lesar of Woodland Hills, CA; brother, Charles (Deb) Uphoff of New Munich; grandchildren, Shawna and Henry Buelow and Travis Siegle.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband Floyd; sister, Sr. Hope Uphoff and granddaughter, Emily Siegle.

Judy F. Vogt

Alphonse Peter Pollock

A memorial service for Judy F. Vogt will be held Saturday, April 1st at 11:00 am, at the Daniel Funeral Home in St. Cloud. Visitation will begin two hours prior to the service.

Judy F. Vogt, of Melrose, formerly of Meire Grove and Richmond passed away March 12th in the St. Cloud Hospital.

Judy was the daughter of Albert and Helen Schleper and raised with two sisters and six brothers on dairy farms near Richmond, Minnesota. She married Melvin Vogt, also of Richmond, and raised two boys John and Delbert after moving to Meire Grove, Minnesota in 1970. She later worked at HEI and Jennie O, and spent the last 34 years of her life in Melrose.

Judy should be remembered as a woman who cared little for conventions. She forged a life overstuffed with sense and nonsense, with wind chimes, and angels, with denim on denim, with two rings on every finger, with purple socks and odd hats, and coffee – just leave the pot. And so, oh so much more.

Judy was to have but 75 years on this earth, and faced many medical challenges in the later ones, but she never lost that determination to live it entirely her own way.

In addition to her parents, Judy is preceded in death by her husband for twenty-three years Melvin Vogt; sister-in-law Patty Schleper; and brother-in-law Dick Hansen.

She is survived by sons John (Lynn Meyer) and Del (Noelle) Vogt; grandsons, Logan, Trenton, Ian and Mason Vogt; brothers Virgil, Herman (Terri Hennen), Eugene, Mark (Gretchen), Tom (Ruth) and Roy (Jeannie) Schleper; and sisters Betty Hansen and Marie (Bob) Zimmer.

Donald Feldewerd

Donald E. "Donnie" Feldewerd, age 58 of Spring Hill, passed away suddenly of kidney cancer surrounded by his family on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held Monday, March 27, 2023 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Spring Hill with Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Interment was in the parish cemetery.

Donald Erwin Feldewerd was born August 7, 1964 in Melrose, Minnesota to Aloys and Lorene (Bueckers) Feldewerd. He grew up in rural Spring Hill and graduated in 1982 from Melrose High School. After graduation, Donnie purchased a farm east of Spring Hill. On August 29, 1987, he was united in marriage to Lisa Ann Laubach at St. Louis Catholic Church in Paynesville. The couple continued farming while purchasing his parents’ farm. In 1999, they welcomed a “surprise” son, Brandon. Together Donnie, Lisa, and Brandon continued farming up until Donnie's diagnosis.

He was a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, St. Michael’s Men’s Society, Catholic Order of Foresters of New Munich, and was Spring Hill Township Supervisor for many years. He enjoyed playing poker on Wednesday nights, pontoon rides, and most of all, farming.

Survivors include his wife, Lisa Feldewerd of Spring Hill; son, Brandon Feldewerd of Spring Hill; parents Aloys and Lorene Feldewerd of Spring Hill; sisters and brothers, Judy (Steve) Uphoff of New Munich, Marvin Feldewerd, Karen (Mark) Rademacher of New Munich, and Kevin Feldewerd of Spring Hill; mother-in-law, Perci Laubach of Paynesville; brothers-in-law, Lonnie Laubach of Arizona and Lane (Melissa) Laubach of Cold Spring; many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Alphonse Peter Pollock, age 95, a resident Little Falls and a former resident of Bowlus, MN passed away at home on Friday March 24, 2023. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, March 31 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church in Bowlus, MN. A visitation will be held on from 9:30 A.M. until the hour of the service on Friday at the church. Memorials are preferred to the Morrison County Food Shelf or the Morrison County Humane Society. Burial will take place at a later date in the parish cemetery.

Alphonse Pollock was born October 6, 1927 at his home in Opole, MN to Joseph and Anna (Mastey) Pollock. He was the 4th of six siblings. He grew up in the Opole area and attended District 12 grade school.

At the age of 16, Alphonse went to work in the Twin Cities from October 1st until April 1st, returning each spring to help on his parents’ farm. His wages then were 75 cents an hour and he recalled being able to eat three meals on one hour’s pay. Each fall he worked with threshing crews in Minnesota and North Dakota. At the age of 18, he went to work for Swift Meat Packing Plant in South St. Paul and remained there for 10 years.

In 1951, Alphonse married Rosbie Habas. Though this relationship wasn't permanent, they did have four children together, Alan, Bruce, Janis, and John.

On January 10, 1955, Alphonse started Pollock’s Meat Market in Bowlus, MN in the building now owned by the Bowlus American Legion. He operated this business for 10 years.

In August of 1966, Alphonse purchased the Citgo Gas Service Station in Bowlus and operated it as Pollock’s Oil Service. In 1967 he started the Bulk Plant and in 1968 he built a new station on the premises. On May 1, 1991, he sold the business and retired. He recalled the day he sold No. 2 fuel oil at 15 cents a gallon and gas at 27 cents a gallon.

Alphonse served his community on the Bowlus Fire Department for 35 years, many of those as Chief and Assistant Chief. He served a 4-year term on the City Council and did maintenance work for the city for several years.

Alphonse was a member of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Bowlus, and he did many volunteer works for this parish.

Following his retirement, Alphonse continued to reside in Bowlus until 2000. He then moved to Big Swan Lake where he lived until he moved to the Alverna Apartments in Little Falls in 2014. In 2021, Alphonse moved to an assisted living facility.

His favorite pastimes were hunting, playing cards, fishing, bowling, dancing, woodworking, gardening, listening to Old Time music, watching the MN Twins and Vikings and visiting with family and friends. After retiring, his most enjoyed activities were traveling the Midwest and going dancing every week with Mert. Al took great pride in the 4 homes he built throughout his lifetime; three in Bowlus and one on Big Swan Lake.

Alphonse is survived by sons and daughter: Alan of Afton MN, Bruce (Karen) of Bowlus, Janis Zumbrunnen of Monticello MN, John (Kim) of Burtrum, MN. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. He is survived by brother, Leroy (Betty) Pollock of Opole MN, and a sister-in-law, Elaine Pollock of South St. Paul.

He was preceded in death by parents, Joseph and Anna Pollock; brothers, Curtis and Benedict Pollock; sisters, Adeline Czeck and Delphine Dombovy and grandson, Dion Pollock. He also was preceded in death by his longtime friend and companion Mercedes (Mert) Schultz.

Alphonse died on March 24, which also happened to be his longtime friend, Mert’s, birthday. We hope the two of them had a wonderful pain-free birthday celebration.

The Mass of Christian Burial, celebrating the life of Alex Miller, of Albany will be 11:00 AM, Saturday, April 1st at the Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany, burial will be in the parish cemetery. Alex was surrounded by loved ones when he passed away Friday at the St. Cloud Hospital at the young age of 25, after a short battle fighting cancer. There will be a visitation from 4-8:00 PM Friday and after 10:00 AM Saturday at the Seven Dolors gathering space. Parish prayers will be at 3:45 PM, Friday in the gathering space.

Alex was born on September 20, 1997. He grew up in Albany and graduated from the Albany High School in 2016. He was working at the University of St. Benedicts, Munsinger Gardens and Good Will. He was gifted with impeccable manners. Alex was one of the most polite people, even when he was being treated at the hospital. He had a personality that was bigger than life and was gentle, compassionate and outgoing. Alex had great passion for sports, including hunting, even shooting a 10 point buck when deer hunting. His favorite color was camo. He also enjoyed fishing, football (he was a huge Vikings fan) and WWE; his favorite wrestler was John Cena. Alex loved road trips, especially the trips he took out west to Denver with his father, Greg.

Alex is survived by his father, Greg Miller, Albany; his brothers, Justin (Brienna) Miller, Thornton, CO; Skyler Miller, Meire Grove; special aunt, Lori (Tim) Nierenhausen, Albany; uncles, Jeff Miller, Albany, and Tom Miller, Orlando, FL. He also leaves behind a special cousin, Heather Nierenhausen, and a nephew, Easton Miller.

Alex is preceded in death by his grandparents, Ralph and Ruth Miller.

Darlene Hommerding

Mass of Christian burial for Darlene Hommerding, age 81, of Albany, was held Friday, March 24, 2023, at Church of St. Benedict, Avon, MN. Burial was in the parish cemetery. Darlene passed away at Assumption Home, Cold Spring, MN on March 18, 2023.

Darlene Johanna was born on November 30, 1941, in St. Martin to Edward and Theckla (Winter) Jonas. She married Harold Hommerding on February 25, 1963, in St. Martin. Together they raised eight children. Darlene was a homemaker who enjoyed gardening, canning, playing cards and listening and dancing to polka music. She truly loved her children and grandchildren. She lived her life in the St. Martin, Albany, and Avon areas. Harold passed away on May 16, 2002. Darlene is survived by her children, Roger (Kim) Hommerding, Albany, Jan (Scott) Braegelmann, Cold Spring, Jerome (Joan) Hommerding, Rockville, Bob (Darla) Hommerding, Paynesville, Joan Hommerding, St. Cloud, Jennifer Hommerding (Donald Orth), Avon, 15 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren, sister, Sally Douvier, Albany and sister-in-law, Margie Jonas, Roseville.

Preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Theckla, husband, Harold, sons, Randy Hommerding, infant son, Joseph Hommerding, brothers and sisters, brothers-in-law and sistersin-law, Arnold (Rosie) Jonas, Clem (Eileen) Jonas, Ellen (Alfred) Hommerding, Edmund Jonas, identical twin, Arlene (George) Winkels and Richard Douvier.

For an Everlasting Memorial

Donnie was preceded in death by his fatherin-law, Ron Laubach.