Obituary: Marion H. Radtke

by Jim Dittmann
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God called Marion to Heaven on September 14, 2017.

A visitation for Marion will take place on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at St. Stephen’s Ev. Lutheran Church in Beaver Dam. A funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Paul Stratman officiating. Inurnment will take place at a later date at Highland Memory Gardens.

Marion Radtke, 99, was born on March 9, 1918, the daughter of Christian and Emma (Backhaus) Schultz.  She met and married Gilbert Radtke during World War II.  They were united in marriage on October 3, 1942.  Gib and Marion Moved to Reeseville in 1946 and started a mink ranch which they operated until the early ‘70s.  Marion traveled to Minneapolis each year to sell the furs to the fur brokers.  Marion then began her own business running a bait shop and package goods store (growing her own red worms and crawling on the ground to pull night crawlers) called Red Barn Sport & Liquor.  After Gib’s passing in 1985, Marion sold the business and moved to Beaver Dam.  She became active in the Beaver Dam Senior Center serving multiple terms as President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Steering Committee.  She chaired multiple committees including the 150th Anniversary of the City of Beaver Dam and the annual Fall Bazaar.  She loved working with all the volunteers wrapping cherries for the cherry tree.  She volunteered wherever needed and served as receptionist for AARP tax program until she was 96.  Marion chaperoned trips for the Senior Center, played in the first Third Street Band, served meals for the Dodge County meal program, sold plants in the greenhouse, and bowled on the senior bowling league.  She said that the Senior Center was a lifeline for me—my second family.  She enjoyed playing bingo, cards, crocheting, traveling, and playing the penny machines at casinos.

She was preceded in death by her husband Gilbert, brothers and sisters-in-law, Alvin (Emma), Delmore, and Christian (Ethlyn) Schultz and one sister Edna Schultz Acker and best friends Annie Nielsen, Mabel Schley, and Geraldine Keel.

Marion is survived by her daughter Kay (Terry) Appenfeldt, Beaver Dam and her son Randall Radtke, Lowell, Wisconsin and nieces and nephews.

The Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is serving the family. To make an online condolence or for more information please visit www.KoepsellFH.com

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