Velma Witte

Velma D. Witte, age 89, of Atwater, died Thursday afternoon, March 27, at Sunnyview Assisted Living in Atwater.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, March 31, at St. John Lutheran Church north of Atwater. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-8 P.M. on Sunday, March 30, at the Atwater Funeral Home and will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday.

Velma Dorothy Augusta Witte was born on June 3, 1918, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the daughter of Gust and Minnie (Jahlas) Fruendt. She grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Guthrie and graduated from Guthrie High School. On March 20, 1941, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Velma was married to Fritz H. Witte and they lived and farmed in the Atwater community. She was the secretary/treasurer for many years for the Atwater branch of Aid Association for Lutherans, now known as Thrivent. She was a member of St. John Lutheran Church, where she served in the ladies circle and sang in the church choir. Velma enjoyed flowers, gardening and being with her family.

She is survived by her three children, Dorothy Kragenbring of Willmar, Herman (and Rose) Witte of Atwater and Katherine (and Ed) Schmaedeka of Maynard; eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Leona Elliott of Guthrie, Oklahoma; one sister-in-law, Ellen Fruendt of Guthrie, Oklahoma and a brother-in-law, Alfred Karner of Midwest City, Oklahoma, besides other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Fritz in 1996; one granddaughter, three brothers, Clarence, Alfred and Herman; four sisters, Ella, Bernice, her twin sister, Selma and a sister in infancy.