Alta Froelich

Alta Froelich age 94, former resident of Ortonville, died on April 21, 2017, at St. Anne of Winona in Winona, MN.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 29, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ortonville, beginning at 2 p.m. Rev. Dr. Robert Gehrke, of Trinity Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, MN, will officiate and Pat Kunz will provide music. Urn bearers will be Alta’s grandchildren: Chad Froelich, Brent Froelich, Darin Froelich and Alyshea Gow, and burial will be in Mound Cemetery.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.

Alta Dorothy Froelich was born on November 29, 1922, in Fergus Falls Township, Ottertail County, Minnesota to Carl E. and Adelheid (Eckhardt) Ferber. She was baptized on December 25, 1922, and confirmed on May 24, 1936, both ceremonies taking place at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Elizabeth, Minnesota. Alta graduated from Washington High School in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1941. She studied music in Baltimore and in Germany.

After graduation, Alta worked at an employment agency and then the St. Paul Hotel. On February 27, 1945, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corp. She served as a medical secretary at the Army Industrial Hygiene Lab at Johns Hopkins Hospital and University in Baltimore, Maryland. Then she was transferred to the Third Army Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. She handled the promotion of officers. She was chosen as one of the enlisted personnel to tour several cities in Germany on Hitler’s train which had been taken over by the Third Army. She met Edmund F. Froelich while in Germany and they were married in St. Ignatius Church in Heidelberg, Germany on December 28, 1946. Alta was honorably discharged from WAC on January 30, 1947, having achieved the rank of WAC Tech 3rd Class. Alta and Ed returned to the States in early 1947 and Ed was a manager of Gamble’s Hardware in Bismarck, ND, then Jamestown, ND and then Watertown, SD. In 1953, they purchased the Gambles store in Ortonville and were in business until 1980. Alta taught piano and organ lessons in her home for 15 years and then worked in the store for 11 years. Ed died on June 3, 1992.

Alta was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Ortonville, having directed choirs, taught Sunday School, VBS and Confirmation classes. She was a member of Anna & Esther Circle and Helping Hands. She was adjutant of the American Legion post, treasurer of Mound Cemetery Association, and an RSVP volunteer.

Cherishing her memory are her children: Gary (Pam) Froelich of St. Marys, Pennsylvania; Dennis (Sharon) Froelich of Muscatine, Iowa; and Rev. Kevin Froelich of Winona, Minnesota; eight grand-children; 21 great-grandchildren (with another one on the way); and two great-great-grandchildren; brother, Romonus; three sisters-in-law: Connie Ferber, Georgene Ferber, and Marcia Ferber; as well as nieces and nephews.

Alta was preceded in death by her parents; husband; grandson, Wade; her brothers and sisters: Rueben (Emma) Ferber, Adella (Elmer) Herrmann, Arletta (Don) Beneke, David (Elaine) Ferber, Erwin, Roseta (Claire) Lunde, and Calvin Ferber; as well as other relatives.