Ethel Mattke

Ethel E. Mattke age 92 of Fredericksburg, IA, died Tuesday, December 20, 2016, at Linn Haven Rehab and Healthcare in New Hampton. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 23, 2016, at the United Methodist Church in Fredericksburg with Pastor Michael Christie presiding. Interment will be in Rose Hill Cemetery, Fredericksburg. Friends may greet the family beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, December 23, 2016, at the church. Arrangements are with Hugeback - Johnson Funeral Home in Fredericksburg. Ethel Ellen Mattke was born September 24, 1924, on the Mattke family farm in rural Fredericksburg, IA, the daughter of Herman and Emma (Klotz) Mattke. She received her education in rural country school and at age 11, her family moved into a new home and acreage just east of Fredericksburg. Ethel was a 1942 graduate of the Fredericksburg High School. She received her teaching certificate from Upper Iowa University in Fayette and taught in several area one-room country schools. Later she worked as a secretary at Fredericksburg Butter & Dairy Co-op (AMPI) for thirty years. Music was a large part of Ethel’s life and she learned to play several instruments as well as the piano and organ. She was the regular organist at the United Methodist Church in Fredericksburg for many years. In her earlier years, Ethel and her sister, Edna and two other young women would sing at many area gatherings. Even in her last years as dementia was making life difficult, she would play the piano at Whispering Willows by ear or by heart. Ethel loved to write poetry and often included a few appropriate lines with her greeting cards. She prided herself with good penmanship and won several spelling-bees as a young girl. Survivors include two nieces, Marilyn (Lee) Stover of New Hampton, Ruby Mattke of Sumner, IA; one nephew, Loren (Frances) Mattke of Fredericksburg. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Glenn (Malinda) Mattke; four sisters, Marie Mattke, Lillian Mattke, Edna Mattke and Florence (Albert) Hill; one nephew, Melvin Mattke.