1920s
Helen Strand ’27 (Oak Grove, Minn.) passed away on March 11 at the age of 104. Helen earned degrees at St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota (MA, PhD) after graduating from Winona State Teachers College. She taught in rural schools before serving with the U.S. Navy during World War II, and later was a professor of education at Luther College in Iowa from 1954-74. A Fulbright lecturer in Liberia, Helen performed extensive community service work following her retirement.
1930s
Gilbert Kraft ’39 (Kasson, Minn.)passed away on March 25. He was 96 years old. He earned his bachelor of education degree at Winona State and taught and coached at Kiester High School. Following service in World War II on the U.S.S. Pueblo, Gil returned to teaching and eventually was director of guidance in the Kasson-Mantorville Schools until retirement in 1979. He established the Gil Kraft Scholarship Fund at WSU to benefit secondary education students. In 2013, Gil, a running back at his alma mater, was recognized by the Warriors football team and presented with a signed helmet.
1940s
Delores (McVey) Theisen ’40 (Winona) passed away on April 1 at the age of 95. She taught in several schools in southern Minnesota before returning to Winona after World War II, where she taught kindergarten until her retirement in 1983. Always community minded, Delores volunteered at Watkins Home and Winona Health.
Abigail (Clayton) Voight ’40 (Mayer, Minn.) passed away on March 4, 2014 at the age of 93. She taught in rural schools in southeast Minnesota and then farmed with her husband, Lloyd. Later, she worked for Minneapolis Moline and Mac Brown Co. Abigail was the first of three generations of family members to graduate from Winona State.
Alice (Storm) Franke ’47 (St. Charles, Minn.) passed away on February 21. She taught at a rural school in Spring Grove before devoting her life to farm and family, in addition to working at several businesses in southeast Minnesota.
1950s
John Donald “Don” Judd ’50 (Rochester, Minn.) passed away on January 18. A member of the 1946 unbeaten and unscored-upon Chatfield High School football team, Don earned his history degree at Winona State. He began teaching after serving in the Korean Conflict and became a successful football coach and athletic director in Farmington, winning seven conference titles.
Donald R. Sweeney ’50 (Delray Beach, Fla.) passed away on January 19 at the age of 84.
Richard Courtier ’52 (Poway, Calif.) passed away on March 17.
Thomas Meulemans ’55 (Duluth, Minn.) passed away on January 10. A catcher on the Warriors baseball team, he began his career in teaching and coaching before becoming a representative and later divisional manager with IDS in Rochester. Tom enjoyed the outdoors and especially enjoyed life on the river, highlighted by building a house on the St. Louis River in 1991.
Ronald Welty ’56 (Corvallis, Ore.) passed away on January 24. He taught science in the Barnum schools before earning his PhD in plant pathology at the University of Minnesota. He worked as a professor at North Carolina State University and, in 1982, moved to the USDA Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit in Corvallis. He was also appointed professor at Oregon State University. His area of interest was fungal diseases of grasses, and Ron authored or co-authored 136 research publications. He was a member of the American Phytopathological Society, the American Mycological Society, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Sigma Xi.
Richard Hart ‘56 (Albert Lea, Minn.) passed away on February 12. He earned his MS in mathematics and science at the University of North Dakota and taught science to several generations of students at Albert Lea High School until his retirement in 1991. He also coached baseball and football and taught drivers education. In 1967, he rebuilt his home with his own hands after it was destroyed by a tornado.
Norris Abts ’58 (Fountain City, Wisc.) passed away on January 12. Norris enjoyed a long and distinguished military career, serving as brigadier general, deputy commanding general of the 103rd Corps Support Command, and liaison to the German Army Logistical Corps. Known throughout the U.S. Army as a foremost logistical professional, he received numerous awards. He also served as a teacher and education administrator, working for 19 years at Winona Technical College where he retired after 19 years in 1988. He was honored with the naming of the Norris P. Abts Transportation Center at Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical.
1960s
Clarence Crum ’60 (Arcadia, Wis.) passed away on March 27. He worked as a guidance counselor in Winona and Arcadia before continuing his education and career towards audiovisual and computer studies at Arcadia.
Evelyn (Duff) Grover ’62 (Galesville, Wis.) passed away on January 18. She taught for 30 years before retiring in 1976. In 2000, she hand-wrote her memoir, Journey: Pieper’s Valley to Grover Valley.
John Litcher ’64 (Lewisville, N.C.) passed away on February 22. He earned his BS at Winona State after serving in the U.S. Navy. He went on to receive his PhD at the University of Minnesota and taught for 32 years at Wake Forest University.
Charles W. Gritzner ’69 (Manchester, Iowa) passed away on February 20. He worked with his family at their Baumgartner Gate Factory until his death. Chuck enjoyed spending time with his family and in the outdoors hunting and fishing.
Thomas Sage ’69 (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) passed away on February 1. An All-America swimmer at Winona State, he taught in Minnesota, Iowa, and Florida before joining the family paving business for several years. He eventually started his own landscaping business.
1970s
Gary Knouft ’70 (Winona) passed away on April 30. He was employed for 33 years with the U.S. Postal Service, receiving the One Million Mile Award in recognition of his service.
Beverly McDowell ’70 (Minneapolis, Minn.) passed away on January 19. She earned her MS degree at Winona State and loved to travel.
Dennis Goplen ’71 (Winona) passed away on March 25. Dennis earned his teaching certificate at Winona State and spent 16 years in the Winona Area Public Schools working as a paraprofessional to children with disabilities.
Marilyn (Mason) Foss ’72 (Winona) passed away on January 21. She earned her MS in art education at Winona State after receiving her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota. She enjoyed a varied career, including work with WSU External Studies, and was active in local community and arts organizations.
Mary Runkel ’73 (Independence, Wis.) passed away on January 13 at the age of 97. She taught for 41 years in Arcadia and Independence area schools before becoming a principal in 1969 and superintendent in 1979. She retired in 1982.
Jon Ehmann ’74 (Phoenix, Ariz.) passed away on December 27. A Winona native, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1975 and graduated from its Medical Specialist School. He served with distinction in various roles and later worked for the American Red Cross in Rochester, Minn., and several healthcare organizations in Arizona.
Carl Fratzke ’75 (Winona) passed away on March 18. The co-owner of Winona Glove Co. retired in 2001.
Mary Garber ’77 (Minneapolis, Minn.) passed away on February 11. She enrolled at Winona State at the age of 40 and earned her BS in nursing. She worked as the nurse at Saint Mary’s College in Winona and then earned her nurse practitioner degree at Brigham Young University. In her 20-year career, she worked at Saint Mary’s, Carleton College, and Face-to-Face Community Clinic in St. Paul.
1980s
Timothy Martin ’89 (Waterloo, Iowa) passed away on February 21. He served in the U.S. Army and was employed as a sales consultant with JAAT Consulting, LLC.
2000s
Jeffrey Bock ’13 (Duluth, Minn.) passed away on January 5. He completed the police skills training program at Alexandria Technical College and had recently been hired by GSSC/Midwest Patrol. The criminal justice majored participated in ROTC and was a member of Pi Lambda Pi at Winona State.
Faculty, Staff, Friends
Steve Sing (Fountain City, Wis.) passed away on February 21. The survey technician and inspector for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was the husband of Debbie Sing, scholarship coordinator at WSU.
Rodney “Rod” Searle (Owatonna, Minn.) passed away January 5. The longtime state representative and chair of the Higher Education Division of the House Appropriations Committee was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree by WSU in 2001.
Thomas Holmay (Winona)passed away January 28. He retired from WSU in 1994.
Norma (Greenler) Dison (Rochester, Minn.) passed away March 6. The first full-time faculty member at the WSU-Rochester campus, she helped design and taught in the nursing ladder and master’s programs. She wrote several nursing textbooks and was presented with the Certificate of Honor by the State Board for Community Colleges in 1991.
Mickey Ellenbecker (Pickwick, Minn.)passed away on March 9. He was a former professor at WSU who taught criminal justice and sociology before retiring in 2000.
