Elsie Rothmeyer

Elsie Rothmeyer, age 74, of Calmar, Iowa, died on Sunday, January 28, 2007, at the Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in LaCrosse, WI, following a lingering illness. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2007, at the Calmar Lutheran Church with Rev. Norman Bauer officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 3:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday, at the Calmar Lutheran Church for coffee and fellowship, followed by a “sharing of stories” at 7:00 p.m. Friends may also call after 10:00 a.m. at the church on Saturday morning. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to the South Winneshiek Dollars for Scholars Program, P.O. Box 298, Calmar, IA 52132, to recognize Elsie’s commitment to students and education. Elsie was born August 12, 1932, to Julius and Josephine (Kolseth) Kiel on the family farm in Springfield township where her family continues to reside. She attended country schools and graduated from Calmar High School in 1950. She received a B.A. from Luther College in elementary education in 1954. On June 19, 1954, she married her high school sweetheart, Linus Rothmeyer, at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames, Iowa. A devoted teacher known for being “friendly, firm, and fair,” “Mrs. Rothmeyer” taught in Nevada, IA, Reinbeck, IA, Waterloo, IA, and Austin, MN before spending 40 years teaching 4th grade in the South Winneshiek School District. Her love of learning took her outside the classroom with her interests in travel, reading, gardening, cooking, and baking. An active community servant, through the years Elsie volunteered time to 4-H, Vesterheim, Winneshiek County Hospital Foundation Board, AAUW, and Calmar Lutheran Church. For the last four and a half years, Elsie resided at the Good Samaritan Center in West Union, IA. Elsie will be remembered for her gracious hospitality, her compassionate commitment to family, friends, students, church, and community, and her abundant sense of hope. Elsie is survived by her husband Linus, Calmar, IA; daughter, Sue, River Forest, IL; sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn and Ed Maalo, Iola, WI; brother-in-law Sterling Thompson, Austin, MN; two sisters-in-law: Ruth Huber, Boscobel, WI, and Rosetta(Gerald) Schmitt, St. Lucas, IA; brothers-in-law Larry (Sandy) Rothmeyer, Festina, IA, and (Elizabeth) Les Rothmeyer, Commerce City, CO; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Vila June Thompson; and her nephew, Kurt Maalo.