Obit: Rottjer, Emma M.  (1911 - 2009)

Contact: Audrey Roedl

Email: audero@charter.net

Surnames: Rottjer, Noeldner, Haessig, Allen, Kingsbury, Rounds

----Source: The Loyal TRG  ( Loyal, Clark County, Wis.)  02 Sep. 2009-09-08

Rottjer, Emma M.  (19 MAY 1911-29 SEPT 2009)

Emma M. Rottjer, 98, died on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield. Visitation will be at Trinity Lutheran Church, Loyal, on Thursday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m., until time of services at 11 a.m. The Rev. Daniel Zimmerman will officiate. Burial will follow in the Lutheran Cemetery.

Emma Margaret Noeldner was born on May 19, 1911, on the family farm in the town of Loyal, the third of eight children, to Ernst and Margaret "Maggie" (nee Haessig) Noeldner. She left home at the age of twelve to begin to earn a living. She attended beauty school in Milwaukee, and worked for a short time in Mayville and then to Greenwood. In 1936, she opened a beauty shop in Loyal, and worked there for 60 years until the building was razed to make room for the new city hall. She met her husband, William H. Rottjer, at the beauty shop, and they were married on May 12, 1927, in Greenwood. They resided in Loyal and in 1947, William died leaving a young widow to raise five children on her own. She was very thankful she had the beauty shop to support her family. In 1956, she purchased the A&W root beer stand in Storm Lake, Iowa. With help from her sister, Meta, who managed the stand for a couple of summers, her children were able to manage the root beer stand themselves, and eventually her son, John, bought the stand.

She was hoinored in 2003 by being named the Loyal Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year. She had many hobbies to keep her busy when she wasn’t working at the beauty shop. She enjoyed bowling, and was on a league for many years. A hip replacement at age 91 stopped her from bowling. She also belonged to a card club. She was a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church and sang in the choir for many years.

She will be dearly missed by her daughters, Margaret Ann (Jack) Allen, Camarillo, Calif., Roberta (Dennis) Kingsbury, Rocklin, Calif.; her sons, William Herman Rottjer and John Henry Rottjer, both of Sacramento, Calif., seven grandchildren, six step-grandchildren;  nine great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Martha Dux, Loyal and Laura (Verland) Dux, Marshfield; a son-in-law, Robert Rounds, Sacramento, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, William; her youngest daughter, Barbara Ellen Rounds; her sister, Meta McCann; and her four brothers, Herman Noeldner, Norbert Noeldner, Erwin Noeldner, and Leonard Noeldner.

Cuddie Funeral Home, Loyal, is assisting the family with arrangements.