Irene Claudia (Wohlfeil) Kroll

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Kroll, Irene Claudia Died February 8, 2016, Minnetonka, Minnesota At the age of 83 years, 4 months and 18 days Growing up, in her own words: "Irene Claudia Wohlfeil, was born in New Salem, North Dakota on 3 September 1932 with a 100% German heritage. My parents, Rev. Louis Theodore Wohlfeil and his wife, Martha Augusta Garbe Wohlfeil lived in Hannover, ND at the time, 20 miles north in the parsonage of the Missouri Synod Lutheran church. Martha had delivered 6 babies between March 1922 and August 1927. Four survived, but a set of twins died within their first day on earth." Then came Irene. As a child in Hannover, "Saturday night was bath night. The large round tub was set in the middle of the kitchen floor and a few inches of warm water, previously heated on the stove, was poured in. We younger ones (Donny and I) got to enter first. More water would be added and then the older ones would each take their turn. We would all be at our best for Sunday morning. Perhaps the biggest and best purchase my parents ever made was the Ellington piano which I still have. Both Grandpa and Grandma Wohlfeil played the piano so I was exposed to classical and religious music at an early age." When Irene was 5, they moved to St. Paul and "found the bathroom - a real toilet with a chain-flush way up high, plus a sink and a tub. We lived at 772 Courtland Place, which was a block from the railroad tracks. During those years - 1938 to 1943 - many down-on-their-luck men without work would "ride the rails". Oft times, upon noticing the church steeple in the distance, these "hobos" would jump off the train and head towards the house next door to the church. Mom always invited them into the back porch and offered them a plate of whatever we were having that day. I learned about serving those less fortunate." At age 10, her father was recruited to the large German-speaking congregation in Hamburg. They missed the indoor plumbing but had a great garden. "I had been begging for piano lessons for years while in St. Paul and realized that money for such did not exist. Mrs. Noennig lived some 10 meters from my door and Mr. Noennig was my grade school teacher. I began taking lessons in exchange for babysitting. Within a year, I entered my first state competition in piano held at Scott Hall on the University of MN campus." "At age 16, I was chosen to represent my church youth group (Walther League) at the state convention in Mankato. There a young soldier - almost 20 yrs. old - had just returned from serving in the military occupation in Italy after WWII. He had been advised by his pastor in Long Prairie, MN to check out the convention in Mankato that year to see how the Lutheran Minnesota girls compared with those post-war Italian babes. Playing games around the campfire that first night, I noticed a lone fellow climbing the hill and waved, motioning him to come and join our group. During that whole evening designed for meeting other delegates, this stranger carried my little jacket, returning with it when the games ended. He was to become my husband 3 yrs. later." "When my father picked me up from the convention 2 days later and the soldier, Bill, walked me to the car, my father asked me, 'What are you doing with that old man?' I had just turned 16 a few days earlier and I was infatuated. Thinking I would never hear from him again, I began my Junior year of high school with all its many activities. A month or so later, my father carried in the mail and presented me with a letter in red ink. Bad choice." "After graduating from high school the Swedish Hospital's (now part of Hennepin County Medical Center) freshman dorm became my new home. They offered a 3-year registered nurse program. Swedish Hospital had an older woman as 'dormitory mother,' monitoring the first-year students. I discovered a way around her as there was an unlocked door on the basement level, which housed the interns. It also had an underground system of tunnels connecting the hospital with the dorms. I was never intercepted, questioned or prevented from running up the many flights of stairs where my roommate would always be sound asleep. I returned home for a few days after I completed my first year of training. My father mentioned that the Director of Nurses called and asked him whether he had any ideas as to why his daughter, whom she had expected to excel in the program, was not. He already knew the reason, and looking into my eyes, he asked, 'Do you love this guy?' After some squirming, I suggested, 'I guess so.' I was both surprised and relieved with his reply, 'Then why don't you just get married?' My father had obviously given this a lot of thought and really wanted his daughter to be happy; wisdom prevailed. A few minutes later, I was on the phone: 'Honey, we can get married!' And that is how I spared my future husband from having to kneel and ask for my hand." Irene married the soldier (Bill) and then helped him with his calculus classes so he could become an electrical engineer. They moved with their 4 children to a mining town in the jungles of Venezuela where they lived for 7 years. They then returned to Minnesota where they settled in Minnetonka. Irene had 4 more children and helped manage Bill's consulting practice. At age 58 she suffered from kidney failure but received a transplant from son, Karl, which gave her another 25 years of life. They had a dinner every year to celebrate the anniversary of that kidney. She lost grandson Bergmann in 2003: startribune.com/obituaries/detail/498754/ and husband, Bill in 2007 but did not slow down. startribune.com/obituaries/detail/10401540/ or startribune.com/william-kroll-acoustical-genius-traveler/11605466/ Irene was gifted musically, competing at the state level in piano and vocal trios as a teenager; she sang with the Minnetonka Choral Society as an adult. She tutored both algebra and piano, was conversational in Spanish and German, and never lost at Scrabble. Irene never stopped caring for the less fortunate and was an active Prison Minister at the Shakopee women's prison until her last year of life. Irene's greatest gift was in helping others. You could bring any problem to her and hang up the phone feeling a little better. She also had an amazing ability to separate out what was truly important from what was not. She remembered all of the birthdays of her 8 children, 24 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren and never failed to call and sing happy birthday. She had amazing self-control and no one can ever remember her shouting. A friend of a son put it thus: "she always was a body of grace, dignity, and faith. It was always a pleasure and a joy to see her and to chat with her. It was always impressive to see the respect and admiration she commanded from her family." Granddaughter, Claudia recalled of Oma (German for Gramma): "I have many memories with Oma that I love. Many of them involve sitting across from her at her kitchen table and hearing her tell stories or just spread knowledge and always the love of God. Oma was wise with every word she spoke." Grandson Karl: "Mutti was always optimistic and could always look at the bright side of things. Mutti never put herself ahead of her family. I enjoyed getting grammar lessons from Mutti and would always ask to be corrected." In her last days, she was far from frightened, but eagerly looking forward to her reunion with Bill and Bergmann. The family would like to recognize the loving and skilled care of the Abbott Northwestern Cardiac Patient Care Unit at H5000. Preceded in death by husband, William Kroll, grandson, Bergmann, and parents, Louis and Martha Wohlfeil. Survived by children, Mark (Lori), Billy, Concordia (Bruce), Robert (Gretchen), Karl (Jeannie), Kai (Sharon), Fritz (Mike), and Richard (Laurel); grandchildren, Brady, Mollie, Ryan, Anja, Ashford, Johann, Chase, Edwin, William, Kaitrin, Bho, Breann, Karl, Skipper, Cacilie, Hunter, Katja, Natalie, Matthew, Mitchell, Claudia, Christian and Caleb; great grandchildren, Gabriel, Sarah, Elizabeth, Ava, Audrey, Axel, Anders, Collin and Addison. Funeral Service Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Shorewood, Minnesota - Pastor Mark Neumann.Visitation Wednesday, February 10, from 4:00-8:00 PM at Huber Funeral Home, Excelsior and also 10 AM before the funeral at church Thursday. Interment German Liberal Cemetery, Medina, Minnesota. Memorials preferred to (all in care of Our Savior's Lutheran Church): Bible Study Fellowship, Redeemer Lutheran School Wayzata, Our Savior's Lutheran School, Prison Ministry.

Published on February 11, 2016