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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Mena West
1910 - 2004
Mena H. West, 94, of
Watertown, died on
Funeral services were
held at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Watertown with the Rev. Anthony Schultz
and the Rev. Mark Gartner officiating. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery.
The former Mena Berkvam was born
After graduating from
Rio High School, Mena attended Columbus County Normal and later received a
bachelor's degree and a master's degree in education from the University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her teaching career began in a one-room school near Rio,
and she taught in Pipersville, Milford, Waterloo, Pewaukee and Oconomowoc. She
retired in 1976, finishing 30 years of teaching as a first grade teacher at
Park Lawn Elementary School in Oconomowoc.
Mena was a member of
the Jefferson County Retired Teachers Association and the oldest member of St.
Luke's Church, having joined more than 50 years ago. She was also a Sunday
school teacher.
Mena and Percy shared
many interests, including gardening, fishing, travel, furniture restoration,
gambling, horseracing, and collecting antiques. After retirement, she learned
to crochet and paint. The family will always remember her special homemade buns
and chocolate cake for deer hunting season.
Being Norwegian, she
loved going to Norwegian dinners and having lutefisk and lefse.
No Christmas was complete without fattigmand.
Mena and her three
sisters were all married in 1935 and the four couples celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversaries in 1985.
Surviving were her
husband of 69 years, Percy West of Watertown; a daughter, Marjorie (Don) Reichardt of Watertown; two sons, Donald (Marlene) West of
Watertown and Dick (Kay) West of Delavan; six grandchildren, Todd (Chris) Reichardt, Sue (Kelly) Pochop,
Lea (Charles) Fischer, Andrew (Gerren) West, Aaron
(Shana) West and James F. West; seven great-grandchildren; a number of nieces
and nephews, other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in
death by a son and daughter-in-law, James Percy West and his wife, Chris; her
parents; an infant brother; and three sisters.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin