Kuennen, Lorraine

Lorraine Kuennen, 82, of Decorah, died Friday, May 25, 2012, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 30, at St. Luke's Catholic Church in St. Lucas, with the Rev. Nick March presiding. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call from: 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the church, where there will be a rosary at 4 p.m. and Scripture service at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Schluter - Balik Funeral Home in Decorah is in charge of arrangements.

Lorraine Caroline (Bodensteiner) Kuennen was born Oct. 25, 1929, in rural St. Lucas, Iowa, the daughter of Ben and Rose (Rausch) Bodensteiner. She was baptized in her faith by Father Francis L. Schuh, pastor of St. Luke's Catholic Church in St. Lucas. All 12 years of her education at St. Luke's Catholic School was taught by Franciscan Sisters of St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wis. Lorraine never had a piano lesson, but always credited her fourth grade teacher, Sister Marita's Music Theory class for the entire grade, for learning to play by note. When she was 13 years old, her uncles, who were choir members, recruited her to play the organ in church. She started on Church Dinner Sunday, Oct. 18, 1943; in November she playrf her first Wedding Mass, and on Feb. 4, she was the organist for Father Leander Reicks' ordination in St. Lucas, and for his First Mass the next day. She was the only organist at St. Luke's Church for 13 years.

On June 11, 1951, Lorraine was united in marriage to her high school sweetheart, Kenneth Kuennen, at St. Luke's Catholic Church in St. Lucas. While Ken was in military training and serving in Korea for 15 months, Lorraine lived with her parents, and helped her siblings when a new niece or nephew was born. When Ken came home from the service, they lived in St. Lucas, where he resumed working at his cousin's Kuennen Sales Hardware and Implement business.

Lorraine started her postal career on July 1, 1955, when she became the substitute clerk at the St. Lucas Post Office. On Jan. 1, 1956, she and Ken purchased the hardware store, and they worked side by side for 37 years, except when she was helping out at one or another post office. She was appointed temporary Officer-in-Charge at the Protivin Post Office in February 1987. She was appointed Postmaster of St. Lucas on March 1, 1988, and served in that capacity until her retirement on March 1, 1999.

In the fall of 1999, Lorraine and Ken sold their country home and moved to Vennehjem, a new retirees' apartment complex in Decorah, where they enjoyed making many new friends and without yard work, they had extra time to do many of the things they still wanted to do. They also enjoyed the extra amenities of a college town, such as concerts and Tuesday seminars. A travel highlight was driving all the way to Alaska in 2002.

They were still close enough to their hometown to remain members of St. Luke's Catholic Church. In 2003, they became founding members of the St. Lucas Historical Society, where they have been very involved in preserving their beloved school, as well as in the formation of the German-American Museum. Lorraine updated her 1980 St. Luke's Parish History in 2005 in time for the 150th Anniversary Celebration, and has written numerous grant applications for the Society.

Lorraine's memberships also included the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), in which she served as secretary for eight years and president for two years; also the Travel Club of Decorah in which she took her turn holding every office; the Winneshiek Historical Society, the Decorah Genealogy Association, the Czech Heritage Partnership (her great-great-grandfather founded Spillville) and the Society for German-American Studies.

Lorraine is survived by her husband, Kenneth Kuennen, Decorah; one daughter, Kathleen (Kathy) Kuennen, Decorah; one son, Paul Kuennen, Urbandale; one brother, Linus Bodensteiner, Decorah; four sisters, Corrine Deeny, Waterville, Minn., Alice Einck, Rochester, Minn., Evelyn (Lawrence) Elsbernd, Calmar, and Marion (Dennis) Heying, Hawkeye; three sisters-in-law, Ruth Bodensteiner, Waverly, Irene Roethler, Wisconsin, and Cathy (Robert) Balik, Kalamazoo, Mich.; one brother-in-law, Gene (Marvelene) Smith, Fort Atkinson; along with several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

Lorraine was preceded in death by her infant son, Jimmy on July 13, 1965; her parents, Ben Bodensteiner in 1978 and Rose (Rausch) Bodensteiner in 1980; one sister, Elizabeth (Ben) Schaufenbuel in 1954; two brothers, Arnold Bodensteiner in 2009 and Dennis Bodensteiner in 1958; her father- and mother-in-law, Albert and Minnie Kuennen; two sisters-in-law, Rita Bodensteiner in 2010 and Arlene Smith in 1998; and three brothers-in-law, Donald Deeny, Louis Einck and Marv Kuennen in 1997.

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Published May 27, 2012 in The Gazette