Surnames: Noeldner, Zimmmerman, Jasurda, Haessig, Nysted, Turnquist, Johnson, Keogh, Halfen, Anderson, Rottjer, Dux, Cole

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., Wis.) Saturday, February 2, 2008

Noeldner, Leonard E. G. (24 Feb. 1917 - 31 Jan. 2008)

Leonard E. G. Noeldner

LOYAL -- Leonard E. G. Noeldner, 90, of Loyal died Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, at the House of the Dove in Marshfield.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Loyal. Burial will follow in the Loyal Lutheran Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Cuddie Funeral Home and from 10 a.m. until service time Tuesday at the church.

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----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., Wis.) Monday, February 4, 2008

Leonard Noeldner

Leonard E. Noeldner, 90, went home to his creator at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. A celebration of his life is at Trinity Lutheran Church in Loyal at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. His nephew, the Rev. Richard Noeldner, and the Rev. Daniel Zimmerman will co-officiate and his niece, Kathy Jasurda, is the organist.

A reception at the church will follow the committal service at the Lutheran Cemetery. Visitations are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, Feb. 4, at Cuddie Funeral Home in Loyal and at the church at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The sixth of eight children, Leonard was born to Ernst and Margaret ("Maggie," Haessig) Noeldner on Feb. 24, 1917, on the family farm in the town of Loyal.

He attended Seidelman School and was baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Loyal.

He and Margaret Nysted were married Aug. 16, 1939, at Trinity Lutheran. They enjoyed a close community of family, friends and neighbors as they raised five daughters and two sons.

He operated a dairy farm on the homestead, many of those years in conjunction with his farming brothers Norbert and Erwin and later with his nephew Jerry. He periodically worked on his brother Herman's silo building crew. He and his brothers built a new house for the family in the mid 1950s. As a farmer, he was known for his careful stewardship of the land and his property, his innovative approach to mechanical challenges and an uncanny ability to repair farm implements.

He retired in 1982 but rented out the land and boarded heifers for several more years. Members of his family purchased the homestead from him in 2002.

Leonard practiced his Christian faith throughout his life. An unassuming man, he lived by his strong values with integrity. He was an active member of Trinity's Luther League as a young man, later served in a number of capacities with the Brotherhood, sang bass in the choir and taught the adult Sunday School class. He was a champion on the dart ball team and a member of the Building Committee for the church's educational unit. He belonged to the Gideons, where he was treasurer of the Marshfield-Neillsville Camp for several years. In his later years, he joined and worshipped at St. John's Lutheran Church in Christie.

Leonard also served on the School Board for Lyon School, and his love of music was expressed as a member of the Clark County Men's Chorus and the Deutscher Club.

He was an enthusiastic berry-picker, eventually raising a variety of berries, grapes, apples and cherries in his orchard. He also took great satisfaction in replanting pine trees that he found on his walks or when enjoying a leisurely Sunday drive. He was a keen observer of the songbirds, deer and other wildlife that shared his world. Leonard was an environmentalist and a conservationist well before they were popular movements.

In retirement, he enjoyed some traveling, including a trip to Germany with a group of his relatives. He was always available to assist family members with remodeling and repair projects as well as attend special events in their lives.

During Margaret's final years, he cared for her at home with the assistance of home health and family members. They observed their 61st wedding anniversary a week prior to her death in 2000. Since the inauguration of a monthly family newsletter in 2003, he regularly shared his memories with the younger generations.

Leonard was blessed with good health throughout most of his life, remaining on the farm until moving to the Angelus Retirement Community in Marshfield in early 2006. He was surrounded by three generations of loving descendants, most of whom gathered with him for his 90th birthday celebration held in July, and again this past Thanksgiving on the farm. Several family members were at his side when he left this life.

He is survived by his five daughters, Mary (Arlyn) Turnquist, Deerfield, Carol Johnson, Grand Rapids, Mich., Kristine (Andrew) Keogh, Marshfield, Beatrice (Norman) Halfen, Oshkosh, and Helen (Tyberius Jacob-Anderson), Madison; two sons, Paul (Barbara), Madison, and Hans (Lyn), Oregon; 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; as well as three sisters, Emma Rottjer, Martha Dux and Laura (Verland) Dux.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, a sister, Meta McCann, and three brothers, Herman, Norbert and Erwin.

The family wishes to express our deep gratitude for those who enriched the quality of his last years: the Rev. Dan Cole of St. John's, grandson Dan Turnquist, who stayed with him his final summer on the farm, the staff at the Angelus for their caring assistance, those at the House of the Dove in Marshfield, who helped him enter the next life, and our sister Kristine, who managed his affairs and was a loving, unfailing family presence for him.

A memorial appropriate to Leonard's legacy will be established at a later date.