MATHILDA PAPE
December 28, 1916 - April, 2009

Mathilda Mary Pape, age 92, passed away peacefully at the St. Croix Health Center in New Richmond, Wis. where she was loved and wonderfully cared for over the past seven years.

She was born on December 28, 1916, in Farmington, Wis. at the home of her parents, Robert and Mary Krenz. After graduating from Osceola High School, she married Martin Pape on October 5, 1940. She began teaching in 1936 and in 1966 earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the Wisconsin State University, River Falls.

Although they didn't have children of their own, children surrounded them. Tillie spent 42 devoted years in the classroom touching the lives of hundreds of students. She taught school at Oak Knoll, Riverdale, Cylon and Deer Park. She retired from the New Richmond school system in 1978. Her dedication to her profession was unmatched. She enjoyed telling stories of the one-room classroom where she went in early to start the fire so the chill was taken off before the students arrived.

She loved her friends and extended family, and had a great passion for sharing her baked goods with everyone. Her door was always open and the spare bedroom in their home was seldom empty. She loved to camp with Martin and their friends, and enjoyed traveling. She enjoyed a Wisconsin State University alumni trip, where she attended the world-famous Passion Play in Oberammergau and toured Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal.

After she retired, if you couldn't find her on a Friday morning, you knew she was at a garage sale. And if she was home, you would find her and Martin working on a quilt...but somehow, someway you could always convince them of a good game of cards.

Tillie was preceded in her death by her husband, Martin Pape and her siblings, Leona Pape, Esther Germain, Irene Kromrey, Jerry and Leonard Krenz. She is survived by one sister-in-law, Evelyn Krenz, and many nieces and nephews who love and admire her.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held Monday, April 6, 2009, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Richmond, Wis. with Father Jim Brinkman officiating.


(New Richmond News - Thursday, April 9, 2009)


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