Rosanna Woeltje

Rosanna Catherine Fallert Woeltje, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, at her home.

She was born May 27, 1923, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Andrew and Catherine Fallert, originally of Ste. Genevieve County. She and Glenn Wesley Woeltje were married at St. Mary's Church in Cape Girardeau Sept. 28, 1941.

Mrs. Woeltje attended St. Mary's High School in Cape Girardeau. She met her husband-to-be when she worked as a waitress at her parents' restaurant, The Lunch Box, in Cape Girardeau. After their marriage, like many stateside wartime brides, Mrs. Woeltje followed her husband to each of his military deployments, finding work to support herself so they could be together. They returned to Cape Girardeau after the war. At the time of Mr. Woeltje's death in 1995, they had been married 53 years.

Mrs. Woeltje was a young working mother when that was still a rarity. For 25 years she was a floor supervisor at Davis Electric Co. in Cape Girardeau. For most of those years, she and her husband also owned G & R Kennels. They placed beagle puppies and toy fox terrier puppies in hundreds of homes throughout Southeast Missouri.

For the past 45 years, Mrs. Woeltje was a member of the Immaculate Conception Church (ICC) in Jackson. She belonged to the St. Ann's Sodality and was a volunteer worker at the church office. She enjoyed promoting the ICC "quilting ladies" by purchasing their handcrafted quilts as wedding gifts for each of her children and grandchildren.

Survivors include a daughter Deanna Woeltje Long and her husband, James Long; two sons, Dennis Woeltje and his wife, Sheryl Smith, David and his wife, Julie Woeltje. Mrs. Woeltje is also survived by eight grandchildren: Michael Woeltje, John Long, Dustin Woeltje, Adam Woeltje, Brenda Long, Lynne Bader-Gregory, Stephen Smith and Barbara Gleason. She is survived by eight great-grandchildren: Brianna Long, Stephanie Woeltje, Kelby Long, Kirsten Woeltje, Landon Woeltje, Summer Woeltje, Elijah Bader-Gregory, Elle Bader-Gregory, Ryan Schetter and Brandon Gleason.

Mrs. Woeltje was preceded in death by her husband and two of their children, Darlene Woeltje and Darryl Woeltje, who died in early infancy.

Friends and family visitation is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at McComb's Funeral Home in Jackson. Parish prayers will be at 6 p.m. followed by the rosary.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson with Father John Harth officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Immaculate Conception School Scholarship Fund in Jackson.