Obit: Wiedenhoeft, Albert G. (1884 - 1960)

Contact: Crystal Wendt

Surnames: Wiedenhoeft, Christian, Franz, Pauls, Feind, Franz, Nickel, Belter, Kobelius, Sill, Nelson, Krohn, Christiansen, Heinrich, Erickson, Dahm, Neibauer, Vandehey, Brunkhorst, Sterzinger, Mueller, Leisinger, Schultz, Hardrath

----Sources: Scrap book one: by Elsa Lange Hardrath & Dorthaleen Edwards Hardrath

Contributed by Halbert "Bud" Hardrath

Wiedenhoeft, Albert G. (3 April 1884 - 26 March 1960)

Unity - Albert G. Wiedenhoeft, 75, driver of the bus for the Colby Union Free High School District for many years, died at 12:30 a.m. today at the home of his son, Gilbert, in Unity, following a lingering illness.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Zion Lutheran Church at Colby. The Rev. William Christian will officiate and burial will be made in the Colby Cemetery.

The body will lie in state at the Lulloff Funeral Home, Colby.

Mr. Wiedenhoeft was born in Dodge County, near Fond du Lac, April 3, 1884, and moved to Colby in 1889. He received his education in Colby Schools. In his earlier years he farmed in the Colby and Abbotsford areas. He also operated a general store in Colby for 10 years.

He began driving school bus for the Colby District in 1941, completing 14 years of service in 1955 at the age of 71. His traffic record for 250,000 miles of school bus driving for 14 years was unblemished and sickness kept him from duty for less than two weeks. Five years ago he and Mrs. Wiedenhoeft moved to Unity.

He married the former Evelyn Franz in Zion Lutheran Church at Colby on Dec. 20, 1906.

He served as supervisor of the town of Colby at one time.

Surviving are his wife; two sons, Arthur, Colby; Gilbert, Unity; a daughter, Mrs. Fred (Mildred) Pauls, Schofield; four grandchildren; one great-grandchild; a brother, Herman, Colby; and four sisters, Mrs. Charles (Amanda) Feind, Mrs. Albert (Augusta) Franz and Mrs. Ed (Louise) Feind, all of Colby, and Mrs. Roger (Anna) Nickel, Lakewood, Ohio.

One son, Lloyd, and two brothers, preceded him in death.

* * Death noted in margin.

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Wiedenhoeft Rites

Unity - Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Zion Lutheran Church at Colby for Albert G. Wiedenhoeft, 75, of Unity, who died Saturday. The Rev. William Christian officiated and burial was made in the Colby Cemetery.

Pallbearers were James Brunkhorst, Randall Sterzinger, Lawrence Mueller, Robert Leisinger, William Schultz and Harold Hardrath.

Kenneth Schultz, accompanied by Mrs. L. Priem at the organ, sang ‘Jesus Savior Pilot Me’ and ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’.

People from away who attended the rites were Mrs. August Belter, San Bernardino, Calif.; Mrs. Roger Nickels, Cleveland, Ohio; Barbara Franz, Milwaukee; Mrs. Walter Kobelius, Merrill; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Franz, Bloomer; Mr. and Mrs. Louis Sill, MR. and Mrs. Herb Nelson and Mrs. Art Nelson all of Chippewa Falls; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Krohn and Mrs. A. Christiansen, Minneapolis, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Julius Feind and family, Rochester, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Orland Feind, Marshfield; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Heinrich, Mr. and Mrs. Werner Erickson, Mrs. Jerry Dahm and Louis Pauls, all of Schofield; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Neibauer and Mr. and Mrs. M. Vandehey, Wisconsin Rapids.

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Responses

Re: Wiedenhoeft, Albert (1955)
Contact: Cheryl Janowiak

Hello there--I can fill you in on some of the details that I know about this family (my great grandmother is a Wiedenhoeft). The Wiedenhoeft members in Clark County are descended from John Julius Albert Wiedenhoeft and Augusta (Mihlke). They moved to Colby (Clark County) about 1893 from Dodge County. I have only one location for them in Dodge County, and that is in Le Roy Township in 1885 (a WI state census). There are quite a few Wiedenhoeft families listed in Dodge County in the late 1800s, and one would guess there would be some kind of familial connections, although I've not got that far in my research yet. These 2 emigrated from West Prussia about 1868/1869.

Also, if you are interested in looking through FHS records, the villages connected with these Wiedenhoefts are: Schwetz (old German)/Swiecie (Polish) and Tuchel (German)/Tuchola (Polish) in the County Konitz (German)/Chojnice (Polish). I have not looked for the microfilm yet, so I can't tell you what's available, or if Wiedenhoefts are listed. I would begin with Lutheran parishes, as that is the religion associated with most Clark County Wiedenhoefts.

Hope this helps. Also, I do have further information on the descendants of John and Augusta, if you are interested.  Cheryl Janowiak