website  watertownhistory.org

    ebook  History of Watertown, Wisconsin

 

Harold A. Senn

1920 - 2008

 

Harold Alton Senn of Watertown passed away at Golden Living Center-Watertown on Friday, July 4, 2008. He was 88 years old.

 

Harold was born on Jan. 8, 1920, in Mound Prairie, Houston County, Minn. His parents were Andrew and Alice (Gstalder) Senn. He graduated from Houston High School in Houston, Minn., in 1938.

 

Harold married Elayne Dorothy Margaret Bender on June 30, 1941, at First Baptist Church in Watertown with Pastor Gustav Wetter officiating.  They have celebrated 67 years of marriage.

 

Harold attended the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin and Maranatha Baptist Bible College.

 

He was a seaman first class and served during World War II on the Navy Somers Class destroyer, the USS-Sampson (DD-394).  He saw action in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Pacific. His destroyer was credited with a U-boat sinking, shooting down of Kamikazes, and the invasion of Biak Island in the Pacific.

 

He was employed at Thomas Industries (Moe Light) in Fort Atkinson for 37 years, retiring in 1982.

 

Harold was a lifelong Baptist and served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He was a charter member of Fellowship Baptist Church of Watertown.

 

Harold served on the Watertown City Council during the 1980s and on the Fourth of July Parade Committee for several years. Until recently, he was a member of the Jefferson County Veterans Board. In the local chapter of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), he served as commander, adjutant and treasurer. He served as chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and was a member of the American Legion.

 

His parents; brothers, Everett, Wallace, and Kenneth; daughters, Margaret and Gloria preceded him in death.

 

He is survived by his wife, Elayne; children, Dr. Dwayne (Ruth) Senn of Joliet, Ill., Dr. Daniel (Denise) Senn of Beaverton, Ore., and Carol (John) Ruffin of Watertown; foster children, Michael (Mary) Wood of Santa Ana, Calif., and Shaaron Wood of Watertown; sisters, Marilyn Hahn of Spring Grove, Minn., and Evangeline Voigt of Rochester, Minn.; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a number of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

 

Funeral service will be held at Fellowship Baptist Church on Thursday at 2 p.m. with the Rev. John Moore officiating. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery, Watertown.

 

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Pederson Funeral Home in Watertown and on Thursday from 1 p.m. until the time of service at the church.

 

Memorials are suggested to Maranatha Baptist Bible College Fine Arts Department and Fellowship Baptist Church Building Accessibility Fund.

 

 

Elayne B. Senn

1923- 2017

 

Elayne B. Senn, 93, of Watertown, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday, March 11, 2017, at Dycora Transitional Living of Watertown.

 

Elayne was born on June 30, 1923, in Monroe, the daughter of Elmer and Clara (Lotz) Bender.  She was a member of Watertown High School’s class of ’41.  On June 30, 1941, she married Harold A. Senn at First Baptist Church of Watertown.  As a member of the Coast Guard medical corps during World War II, Elayne received her medical and pharmaceutical training at Columbia University in Washington, D.C.  For most of her adult life, Elayne worked in the medical field — first at Bethesda, then at St. Joseph’s Home and finally running the Student Health Center at Maranatha Baptist University.

 

Elayne was an outstanding athlete — a runner, an ice skater and a semi-professional basketball player for the U.S. Coast Guard.  In 1959, when it was unseemly for a mom to coach, Elayne coached her sons’ baseball team to the Watertown Little League Championship.  Elayne was also a Boy Scout den mother, a violinist in the Watertown Community Orchestra, secretary of the Euterpe Music Club, a lifelong member of the American Legion, commander of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 63 and, in 1968, she initiated the formation of Maranatha Baptist University through a phone call to its first president, Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm.  Elayne was a charter member of Fellowship Baptist Church, where she was active in the music, hospitality and nursing home ministries.

 

Elayne is survived by her children, the Rev. Dr. Dwayne H. (Ruth) Senn of Wautoma, Dr. Daniel (Caroline) Senn of Watertown and Carol (John) Ruffin of Watertown; foster children, Michael (Mary) Wood of Santa Ana, California, and Shaaron Wood of Watertown; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and sister, Shirley Schultz of Pembine.  She is also survived by a number of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

 

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Harold, daughters Gloria Jean Senn and Margaret Alice Senn and brother Milton Bender.

 

A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Fellowship Baptist Church of Watertown with the Revs. Dr. Dwayne H. Senn and Chad Prigge presiding.  Visitation will be on Wednesday from 1 p.m. until the time of service at the church.  Burial will follow the service at Oak Hill Cemetery of Watertown.

 

Pederson-Nowatka Funeral Home 213 S. Fifth St. Watertown

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

History of Watertown, Wisconsin

Index