Emma G. Westerhold

Emma Gesine (Windels) Westerhold, much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and friend; celebrated cook and affectionate caretaker; died Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at the Pender Community Hospital after a brief illness. She was 93. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 1, at 10:30 A.M. at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Pender. A visitation will be held on Friday, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Munderloh Funeral Home in Pender. Interment will be in the St. Peter's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Pender. Emma was born on October 17, 1915, in Petersfehn, Germany, to Hermann and Anna Frieda (Johannes) Windels. When she was 8, she and her family left Germany. Her father briefly considered moving his family to Argentina, but eventually decided upon settling in Nebraska. They entered the United States through Ellis Island on August 16, 1924. She went to school at District 2 near Pender through the eight grade, when the death of her mother required her to take care of her family. She was confirmed at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Pender on April 13, 1930, and married Martin E. Westerhold on February 20, 1935. They made their home near Pender, where they raised six children: Dale, Janet, Bill, Carol, Gail, and Mark. In the Decades after Martin’s death on July 4, 1967, Emma took on a number of professions, including homemaker, caretaker, and cook. She worked at the Pender Care Center in a number of roles, including a certified nurse’s assistant. She retired in 2000 as one of the favorite members of the care center’s staff, at the young age of 84. She loved to laugh and had a quick wit that enlivened family gatherings. She liked to polka, to play Tripoli and to drink an occasional Olympia beer. She made legendary potato pancakes and recipies from the old country. She loved to bowl at Wagner’s and Pender Lanes and always enjoyed visits from friends and family. In later life, she enjoyed performing in the Pender Pretenders and had many cherished moments doing crossword puzzles and playing the card game Schafkopf (sheepshead) with her friends at the local senior center. Emma lived in her Pender home until a few months after her 90th birthday, which she celebrated in 2005 with family and friends at the Pender Fire Hall. It was there that her loved ones sang to her on of her favorite songs, “You Are My Sunshine”. Soon after, she moved in with the family and eventually into the same Care Centre where she had helped so many other before her. Most of all, she had a generous heart and kind soul, and she loved those around her, fiercely, from her place in the center of her family. As the years passed, and her children had children and grandchildren of their own, Emma remained the unifying thread that brought and tied her closest loved ones together. She is survived by her children: Dale Westerhold of Evans, CO; Janet Smith and her husband Rod of Bancroft, NE; Bill Westerhold and his wife Shirley of Omaha, NE; Carol Larsen of Decatur NE; Gail Brondum of Pender, NE; and Mark Westerhold and his wife Judi of Cody,WY. She is also survived by 18 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren , and her sister Kathe Knox of Culver City, CA. Emma was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, two brothers, Gerhardt Windels and Hermann Windels, a sister Marie Henjes, a son-in-law, Merlin Brondum, a daughter-in-law, Sharon Westerhold and a grandson, Kyle Westerhold.