Florence K. Wennes

Monday, February 13, 2017 7:26 pm

Florence K. Wennes, 88, of Decorah, died Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, at her home in Decorah. Funeral services are at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at Decorah Lutheran Church, with Rev. David Sorenson and Rev. Charis Combs-Lay officiating. Burial is in Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah in the spring. Visitation begins Saturday at 10 a.m., one hour before the service, at Decorah Lutheran Church. Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at fjelstul.com.

Florence Genevieve (Kvamme) Wennes was born May 11, 1928, in Waukon, daughter of Henry and Inga (Olson) Kvamme. She was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon and confirmed at First Lutheran Church in Decorah. She graduated from Decorah High School with the class of 1946. Florence worked at the telephone office in Decorah after graduating from high school. She was united in marriage to Carl (Bud) Wennes Jr. Oct. 10, 1946, at First Lutheran Church. This union was blessed with one son, Carleton. Florence and her family moved to California in the mid-1950s. They resided in Seal Beach, Calif., where she worked at Disneyland as a telephone operator, helped her husband Carl in his used car business, and enjoyed managing her card and gift shop. After her husband passed away, she moved to Santa Rosa, Calif., where she worked at Macy’s department store. She returned to Decorah in the mid-1990s. Florence was active in the Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary in Decorah and volunteered in the hospital’s gift shop. She was a member of Decorah Lutheran Church, the VFW Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary.

Florence is survived by her daughter-in-law, Laurie Wennes of Santa Rosa, Calif.; her granddaughter, Cindy (Eric) Borba of Corona, Calif.; two great-grandchildren, McKenna and Casey; one sister, Margaret (Bill) Christopherson Thom of Jesup; one brother-in-law, Peter Bieber of Waukon; and one sister-in-law, Joycelyn Moulton of Boise, Idaho.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Inga; her husband, Carl (Bud), Oct. 21, 1974; her son, Carleton, Jan. 28, 1992; her sister, Lillian Bieber, March 29, 2013; her bother-in-law, Jerome Christopherson; nephew, Dan Bieber; and sister-in-law, Caryl Christiansen.