Obit: Rank, Anna Marie (1934 - 2018)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Balker, Patterson, Rank, Rieger, Scholz, Swanson, Willger

----Source: The Cornell Courier - Sentinel (Cornell, WI) 1/10/2018

Rank, AnnaMarie (Balker) (28 SEP 1934 - 8 JAN 2018)

AnnaMarie Rank, 83, Holcombe, passed away peacefully Jan. 8, 2018, at her home.

AnnaMarie was born Sept. 28, 1934, the daughter of Josef and Anna Balker, in Munich, Germany.

She was united in marriage to Robert Allen Rank Nov. 14, 1957, in Munich, Germany. They started their lives together in Germany, as a family in the United States Army, often moving from country to country as Robert changed duty stations.

She lived in Germany, Italy, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Georgia, in addition to Wisconsin, where they resided after Robert’s retirement from the United States Army in 1975, and his death in 1996.

Mom was a dedicated stay-at-home mother, raising five sons. After Dad’s death, Mom and her sister-in-law, Bernice (Rank) Swanson, lived together, as both had recently lost their husbands, and were more like sisters, than sisters-in-law.

She enjoyed working in her small garden and with her flowers. Both Mom and Bernice enjoyed almost weekly visits to the casinos at Turtle Lake and LCO. It was their “passion” to visit the one-armed bandits.

AnnaMarie enjoyed many cats and dogs over the years, and feeding the birds, deer and bunnies.
She is survived by her sons – Bill (Sue), Steve (Dawn), Scott and Bruce; grandchildren – James, Kadie, Marleana, Jessica and Tiera; many great-grandchildren; her cousin – Helga Rieger, and family, Passau, Germany; and her cats – Crybaby, Mama and Tiger.

She was preceded in death by her parents – Josef and Anna Balker; stepfather – Heine; her special aunt and uncle who raised her during the war years in Germany – Fanny and Xaver Scholz, Spieglau, Germany; husband – Robert; sister-in-law – Bernice and her husband, Clarence “Swanee” Swanson, and son, James; and mother-in-law – Margaret Patterson.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 12, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Flambeau, with Father Gerard Willger of Hayward officiating. Interment will be in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Holcombe, following the services.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 11, at Borton-Leiser Funeral Home in Cornell, and also one hour prior to the funeral Mass, Friday morning at the church.

Online condolences may be expessed at www.leiserbortonfuneralhome.com.