Wilma Marie Weber (Rice)

1925 - 2017

In 1920s rural America, optimism was alive. The Great War was over and things were looking up. And a young couple was falling in love. Grace Kienberger and Darwin Rice were married in 1921 in Long Prairie, MN. A few years later, amid the Roaring 20’s, a baby girl arrived to this young couple, Wilma Marie Rice, born on January 24, 1925. As things turned out, she was the only child in this family, but you would never know it. She was no spoiled only child. Her main complaint was that she didn’t have anyone to play with. She longed for a playmate and for dolls. She loved dolls. The hard times of the Depression prevented her hard-working parents from getting her the things they wanted her to have. But, her mother was determined that she should have her own doll, so they scraped together enough to get her one. During this time, she showed her love for cute, pretty, little things (a love she later passed on to her daughter). Wilma loved fun, loved her parents and loved her grandparents. Growing up, she found her musical ability learning piano and clarinet. “They grow up so fast,” parents say, and so it was for Wilma, as she reached 5’10” by the time she was 13. She towered over the boys, much to her chagrin. Wilma’s zest for life and fun earned her the nickname “Wild Rice” from her Grandpa Kienberger.

By the time she graduated from Long Prairie High School in 1943, she felt there were no opportunities for her in this rural community, so she made the difficult decision to leave home and move to “the cities”. While in Minneapolis, she was employed as a housekeeper for the Snyder family, who were wealthy heirs to the Pillsbury family. (This couple incidentally honeymooned on the Titanic). Wilma received medical secretary training at the College of Commerce in Minneapolis and eventually began working at a doctor’s office in NE Minneapolis. Her pursuit of friends and adventure led her to join clubs and organizations, including the Tip Toppers Club, a club for tall people. She began attending Mt. Olive Lutheran church in South Minneapolis. Always looking for fun and fellowship with people, she attended Walther League youth activities there in the late ‘40s. This is where she would encounter Robert Weber. They both attended a “folk games” party (otherwise known as a square dance) where Bob accidentally stepped on Wilma’s foot. Feeling so sorry about this accident, he felt obligated to call on Wilma to check on her recovery. Wilma thought this young engineer was brilliant and was so flattered by his attention. They fell in love and by Christmas of 1950, Bob and Wilma were engaged to be married.

They were married on June 2, 1951 and purchased a home in Coon Rapids soon after. She enjoyed her postwar young married years by honing her cooking, sewing, gardening and painting skills, taking classes whenever she could. Their son, Mark, was born in 1955. She loved being a mom! She didn’t need dolls anymore. She had a real baby! Paul came along in 1957. In the early 60’s, this young Weber family joined a newly formed Lutheran church in Blaine called Way of the Cross. But Wilma was not quite satisfied. She really wanted a daughter and she promised God that she would teach Sunday School if God would give her a little girl. And so their daughter, Ruth, was born in 1966, and Wilma taught Sunday School. (She would recall the story every year about how she stared at her hospital bracelet in disbelief – the one that said “Girl Weber.”)

Wilma loved her children. She loved cooking and sewing for them and sharing her children with her parents. Wilma was living her dream; she always wanted to have children to love. Wilma wanted her children to feel secure. When they encountered bullies who picked on them, she encouraged them by telling them to ignore those kids and “consider the source”.

As her children grew, she kept on cooking and sewing. Eventually her children got married. And she kept sewing for her grandchildren. Wilma now loved her grandchildren. More babies! She took up quilting and loved to learn new skills. She kept on adventuring to new destinations with her cousins and friends. As the years passed, her mother’s health failed, and Wilma spent increasing time caring for her mother, both in Long Prairie and at the Weber home in Coon Rapids.

As time progressed, Wilma’s back and knees caused her problems. “We should worry!” she would say, a favorite saying of her mother’s. She had three artificial knees over the years. (That’s right. Three.) Wilma and Bob were blessed to be able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001, with family and many friends and newly found German cousins.

Bob’s health deteriorated to a crisis in 2002, when he developed heart valve failure. Wilma faithfully loved and cared for Bob through this trying time of surgery, recovery, and eventually dementia. God granted him another three years after his surgery. The passing of her husband left her with an empty house but not an empty life.

In 2005, Wilma made a historic trip to Germany – her first trip across the ocean. She and her family were able to travel to the home of her Bavarian ancestors and meet more cousins. It was a magical trip.

A few years later, with great sadness, she sold her house to move to an apartment in Spring Lake Park. More friends! She was often the life of the party and loved spending time with her neighbors there. Greg and Ruth began to build a house in which she could also make her home. After a fall in 2013, her family decided she should not live alone, so Wilma went to live with Mark and Linda in Coon Rapids. Eventually, Greg and Ruth finished their house, which was only some blocks away from Wilma’s old home in Coon Rapids, and she was finally able to live with her daughter’s family in 2014. But soon after this, she developed pneumonia and her health rapidly spiraled downward to a crisis that summer. She lost her ability to swallow and was very close to death, but God miraculously brought her back so that she was able to move back to Greg and Ruth’s house and enjoy the family life that her family desired for her, with goodnight kisses from grandchildren, pizza and movies on Sundays, and chocolate in the morning. Wilma’s family was grateful and blessed to celebrate her 90th birthday after such a close call with death.

On March 5, 2017, she fell again, this time slightly fracturing her leg, so she was taken to Unity Hospital. Pneumonia quickly and aggressively followed and took her life on March 20, with Greg and Ruth at her side to send her on to heaven.

The things Wilma leaves behind are many, many pleasant memories, her contagious laugh, her zeal for life, her love of outdoors, her grieving friends and family, and the legacy of confident Christian faith that she instilled in her descendants.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wilma Stories

Submitted by friends of Wilma

Celebration Service, March 25, 2017

"I was pregnant with Joel and so sick I couldn't keep water or food down. I was so weak and I thought I needed to call WOTC and see if someone could help me. I started to the phone but knew I was about to faint so I turned and went back to the sofa and prayed (this was the morning) that God would lay me on someone's heart. That afternoon Wilma and about four or five others came. (Wilma had called the others and asked them to help me too.) They came, cleaned my house, ironed and laundry, and gathered my vegetables from my garden and froze or canned them. What a blessing she was!

- Bev Jankowski

"When my first daughter was born in 2014, Wilma wanted to give me a blanket even though her hands didn't work so well. She did it though and I was so blessed by the love that clearly went into that blanket. She always had a positive attitude. I hope I can impact my world right up to the end as she did!"

- Kari Doncette

"I'll always remember Wilma and Bernice Glines with their clown outfits, fabulous hats, and sense of humor!"

- Sharon Brodin

"As Wilma and I would be watching the pictures pass by on her frame, she would always feign disgust when there was a picture of her eating. She would always say, 'They always take pictures of me eating!' And then she would laugh and say, 'I must eat a lot!' She really was a joy to be with and I have been truly blessed to have known her. And I am thankful for the time I was able to spend with her."

- Jennifer Clark

"Wilma had such a great sense of humor and loved to joke and laugh. One time we were cleaning her basement 'pantry.' I brought up some 'wine' she had made from many years ago. I said, 'Is this still good?' 'Who will taste it, you or me?' I said, 'Not me.' She did taste it. I can't remember if it was 'ok.' But it was very humorous."

- Raynele Schneider

"At our most recent singalong with those we used to know from WOTC ... It was held at Wilma's home and I had the privilege of sitting next to Wilma. In spite of her weakened condition, every time I turned and looked at her, she had a smile on her beautiful face."

- Mary & Greg Griese

"Visiting Wilma twice a month, 2-1/2 years. What a delight to visit Wilma, always so pleasant and welcoming! 1-1/2 days before she passed on I visited her, planted a kiss on her forehead. She responded, 'That was a smacker!' A person anyone would want to model. Praise God."

- Barbara Hurd

"I wanted to thank you for giving me the chance to get to know and love Wilma. She was truly a light in my life this year. Serving her has been such a blessing to me. I've loved laughing with Wilma, re-watching much-loved Shirley Temple movies with her, and hearing her sweet 'good-night' when I turnd out the light on Wednesday nights, no matter how rough or smooth the evening had been. And of course, baking cookies.;-)

I have so many fond memories of spending time with Wilma, singing with her, painting nails together ... The very first time I stayed with her, I remember that she burst into song singing, 'This is the day that the Lord has made.' It was so surprising and such a sweet memory.

You are all in my prayers during this time. Wilma has truly impacted my life, and I glorify God that she is rejoicing with him now."

- Amanda Meuer

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Quotes and Anecdotes on Wilma's Passing

"Mission accomplished."

- Jack said this to Ruth when Grandma's death looked imminent. We always hoped we could care for Mom until she died, but didn't know whether her condition would allow that. When she was approaching her final hours, we both stayed with her overnight at the hospital to see her to the end. At 6:05 AM on March 20, our work was done.

"Goodbye, Mom. I love you."

- Last words spoken to Mom, by Ruth, with a kiss. Greg believes Mom nodded after Ruth said this, just before her breathing stopped.

"Schlaf gut." (Sleep well)

- Greg said this to Mom at bedtime in our house, and she would chuckle. It was a saying of Greg's grandma's, and of Mom's Grandma Kienberger's as well. By the end, Jack was saying it too. When Mom died, Greg added, "Ruhe in Frieden" (Rest in peace.)

"She found her mother!"

- During her years living with us, Mom often said, "I don't know where my mother is." She forgot her mother had died, and wouldn't believe it after we told her. A few minutes after Wilma died, Ruth realized they would finally find each other, in Heaven.

"I feel a little less attached to the world."

- Ruth, the day after Mom died. We both realized this is one of the painful yet good lessons in losing someone. Something precious to us has been taken from the world, and we'll only find it again when we leave this world.

She Made it to Spring: When Mom's condition worsened over the Winter months, Ruth wondered whether she would live until Spring, but she made it, by 1/2 hour. She died on the first day of Spring, 1/2 hour after the Vernal Equinox.

Simple Pleasures: Mom was always up for a funny story. Even when she was weak and nearly incoherent, a guest or a nurse or a therapist could tell her a story or a joke and she would laugh along.

Mom loved a little bit of candy in the morning. In her last few years, Ruth kept a little candy jar stocked by Mom's chair, to which she would help herself to a little treat when she got up. At the rehab facility after her fall on March 5, she was very tired and weak. Ruth was conversing with a therapist in Mom's room when Mom thought she heard something she liked and she said, "Did you say chocolate?" That told the therapist how to motivate Mom in rehab.

Heart and Lungs: Mom's dementia made her a bit cantankerous when she was tired, and Ruth bore the brunt of this. Yet Mom always lit up when someone came to visit her. Lest Ruth feel unappreciated, Greg told her that our senses give us little treats and comforts, but the heart and lungs have the thankless job of keeping us alive. Ruth was the heart and lungs who kept Mom alive to enjoy other things and other people. When Mom went to the hospital, away from the hundred-or-so little routines maintained by her "heart and lungs," she deteriorated quickly.

Menu Advisor: The day after Mom died, Ruth was planning the funeral lunch and said, "I want to ask Mom what we should serve." Mom loved to look through cookbooks, and Ruth would always discuss menus with her.

No More Diet Restrictions: From the time Mom moved in with us, Ruth kept a list of things she couldn't eat even though she liked them. Coffee, raisins, grapes, oatmeal, and others were all trigger foods that upset her stomach. When she had pneumonia in 2014, and in her final days in 2017, she could eat only pureed or thickened food. When Mom died, Ruth said she can finally eat whatever she wants.

The Naturalist: Mom loved birds and wildlife. We were glad she saw so many while she lived with us. She watched goldfinches at the feeders outside her bedroom window, cardinals, woodpeckers, orioles, indigo buntings, and hummingbirds from the kitchen table. She also saw regular parades of wild turkey and deer. We often kept a petunia basket or other flowers outside her window, and some summer days, she liked to sit on the porch and groom the flowers.

Funny Girl: Mom kept her humor to the end. Two days before she died, she laughed along with visitors. A week before her hospitalization, I saw a bruise under her eye and asked her how it happened. She didn't know. I told her she should had said, "You should have seen the other guy." Two days before she died, she somehow got a huge bruise on her left hand. I asked her if she got in a fight, and she said, "You should have seen the other guy."

On names and nicknames:

- Besides "Wilma," Mom went by:

- Mim (Wilma pronounced her name "Mimma" when she was very young, so her mother always called her "Mim.")

- Wild Rice (Grandpa Kienberger gave this nickname to young Wilma Rice. If you know her, you'll understand why.)

- Grossmutter (Coined by her teenage daughter because of Wilma's affinity for earthy humor.)

- Grandson Andrew has middle name *William*, after Wilma

Chronicle of the Final Hours

Saturday (3/18/17):

- Busy day. Mom on 50L of oxygen and doing poorly.

- Several guests today:

- Barbara Hurd. Barbara gave Mom a kiss goodbye. Mom said, "That was a smacker!"

- Debbie Koffski

- Pr. Don Pfotenhauer

- Sing-alongs:

- Mark sang some Psalms (old WOTC scripture songs) and Mom sang along

- Pr. Don. sang some more and Mom sang along

- Roommates: Ruth and Sarah stayed overnight with Mom.

Sunday (3/19/17):

Greg and Ruth stayed overnight with Mom. Nurses visited every hour, adjusting her position, administering morphine. Mom was mostly quiet but began groaning in the early morning. At 5:55 her respiration rate rose to 29-30 shallow breaths per minute. At 6:02 she gasped loudly, then suddenly breathed very slowly. At 6:05, she was gone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This World Is Not My Home

"I am still in the land of the dying. I shall be in the land of the living soon."

- last words of John Newton

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living."

- Psalm 27:13

"Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of it. Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word. Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves. Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in him. Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle; it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace."

"How do we know that dying is so dreadful? Who knows whether, in our human fear and anguish we are only shivering and shuddering at the most glorious, heavenly, blessed event in the world?"

- Eric Metaxas

"This world that seems to us so substantial is no more than the shadowlands. Real life has not begun yet."

- William Nicholson

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

- C.S. Lewis

"There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve -- even in pain -- the authentic relationship. Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

- I Corinthians 13:12

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

- Revelation 21:1-4

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Obituary

Weber, Wilma Marie (Rice) Age 92. Long-time resident of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

Born January 24, 1925 in Long Prairie, Minnesota. Died March 20, 2017 in Fridley, Minnesota.

Preceded in death by her Husband, Robert; Parents, Darwin and Grace (Kienberger) Rice.

Survived by Children, Mark (Linda), Paul (Patty) and Ruth (Greg) Bittner; Grandchildren, Sarah, Rachel, Matthew (Jill), Grace (David) Lamprecht, Katelyn, Breanna, Jordan, Jack Bittner and Andrew Bittner; Great-grand-children, Gabriel and Aliza Lamprecht.

Wilma was a faithful Christian, wife, mother and grandmother. She loved good laughs, good friends, and good meals, especially any that came with chocolate.

~Funeral Service~

11:00 AM, Saturday, March 25, 2017 with visitation from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM at

Way of the Lord Church,

804 131st Ave. NE,

Blaine, Minnesota

~Interment~

Morningside Memorial Gardens

Coon Rapids, Minnesota

Gearhart Funeral Home

763-755-6300

GearhartFuneralHome.com

* * * * * * * * * *

Weber, Wilma Marie (Rice) Age 92. Long-time resident of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

Born January 24, 1925 in Long Prairie, Minnesota. Died March 20, 2017 in Fridley, Minnesota.

Preceded in death by her Husband, Robert; Parents, Darwin and Grace (Kienberger) Rice.

Survived by Children, Mark (Linda), Paul (Patty) and Ruth (Greg) Bittner; Grandchildren, Sarah, Rachel, Matthew (Jill), Grace (David) Lamprecht, Katelyn, Breanna, Jordan, Jack Bittner and Andrew Bittner; Great-grand-children, Gabriel and Aliza Lamprecht.

Wilma was a faithful Christian, wife, mother and grandmother. She loved good laughs, good friends, and good meals, especially any that came with chocolate.

~Funeral Service~

11:00 AM, Saturday, March 25, 2017 with visitation from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM at

Way of the Lord Church,

804 131st Ave. NE,

Blaine, Minnesota

~Interment~

Morningside Memorial Gardens

Coon Rapids, Minnesota

Gearhart Funeral Home

763-755-6300

GearhartFuneralHome.com