Gertrude E. Wunsch

Gertrude E. Wunsch, 86-year-old resident of Harmony House of Little Falls, MN formerly of Upsala, MN passed away Monday, September 7, 2015, at the Harmony House of Little Falls. Graveside Services were held Wednesday, September 9, 2015, at the Word of Life Free Lutheran Church in Upsala, MN with Rev. Clayton Wilfer officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery. A Memorial Service for Gertrude will be held Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Word of Life Free Lutheran Church in Upsala.
“Gertie” was born in Plymouth, WI. She moved to Freeport, IL when she was three years old. In school, she enjoyed music and sports. Upon graduation, Gertie attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL where she majored in Physical Education. Gertie developed and coordinated the women’s athletic program at Anderson University in Anderson, IN for about thirty years. She also did post-graduate work and was given an Honorary Doctorate and was one of the first persons inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame. During the summers, Gertie assisted Wheaton classmates in running a Christian Youth camp called Good News on Cape Cod. She was brought up in the Zion Reform Church in Freeport, IL and was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ as she loved and served people all of her life. Gertie was a professional woman and gave her life to her work camp and students. When she retired she was invited to live in a cottage on the Camp Good News grounds in Forestdale, MA.
As a victim of Alzheimer’s, her friends notified her family that she needed to be closer to them. She thus returned to the Midwest to reside with her brother Calvin and wife Suzanne in Upsala, MN in 2006. After five years, Gertie needed more care and moved to Harmony House, a residence for people with Dementia. She was under Hospice care when she passed on.
Gertie was preceded in death by parents, Edwin and Lauretta Wunsch; older brother Elwood; nephews, John and Herb Wunsch; niece Sharon Wunsch.
Gertie is survived by a brother, Calvin (Suzanne) Wunsch of Upsala, MN; niece, Margaret Wunsch of Milwaukee, WI; nephew, Dennis Wunsch of Bothell, WA.