Marion Walck – September 5, 2026
Marion Dolores Walck (Garbisch) April 7, 1926 – September 5, 2026, joined her beloved
husband Alfred and her dear son John in the arms of the triune God, after leading a life
rich in service to her Lord, Jesus Christ.
She was born in Waltham, MN, to Adolph and Alma Garbisch. She received a Teacher’s
Certificate in 1945. After a year of teaching in rural Brownsdale, MN, she met the love of
her life, Alfred W. Walck, Jr. He would be leaving to serve as a Pastor and missionary in
Papua New Guinea within several months. Before he left, they made plans to get
married in PNG a year later on Feb 6, 1947, in Lae, the Territory of New Guinea.
She served alongside her husband as a Missionary in the Madang area, Papua New
Guinea for 25 years, 1947-1972, as a LPN supplying medicines to local Papua New
Guineans, teaching in well baby clinics, sewing, and Bible classes, all for which she
received additional training and certification. Marion provided unwavering support for
Alfred and their four sons.
After returning to the United States, Marion and Alfred served in the parishes of Our
Savior’s Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN, Trinity Lutheran in Linn Grove, IA, St. Peter
and St. Paul Lutheran Churches in Brunsville/Merrill, IA, Sunrise Manor in Sioux City, IA,
as well as in Pine Island and Wykoff, MN, and in Ogden, Grimes, Clive, and Bouton, IA.
She served as organ accompanist when Al led services at various nursing homes in
Urbandale, Johnston and Des Moines. Her gifts and contributions also included writing,
organizational, and computer skills while assisting in church and physician offices. She
enjoyed recording stories of her family, life experiences and photographs as well as the
hobby of writing her memoir, “22 Kitchens”. She cherished her grandchildren, great
grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, and loved each one of them dearly.
Marion is survived by her sons and their spouses, Rev. Dr. Leslie Walck of Urbandale,
IA, Ken (Chris) Walck of St Charles, MO, Dan (Pam) Walck of Urbandale, IA and her
daughter-in-law Pam Walck of Gig Harbor, WA; and her 12 grandchildren, Callie Walck
(Cameron Bartley) of Ankeny, IA, Rachael (Jake) Barth of Roundup, MT, Dr. Kerry
Reding-Amrofell (Greg) of Seattle, WA, Emilie (Perry) Marchio of Gig Harbor, WA, Matt
(Chastity) Walck of McCleary, WA, Cassie Walck (Matt Parker) of Blue River, CO,
Shelby (Tim) Bolhafner of Wildwood, MO, Dr. Elise Walck-Shannon (Ben) of St Charles,
MO, Aaron (Kristen) Walck of Johnston, IA, Chris Walck of San Diego, CA, Meghan (Dr.
Skyller) Stickfort of Des Moines, IA, Rachael (Dr. Nick) Bartschat of Iowa City, IA; as
well as 22 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-grandchildren, niece Marion Bradford
(Steve Fickenworth) and many other nieces, nephews and relatives.
She is preceded in death by her husband Rev. Alfred W Walck, Jr., her son Dr. John A
Walck, her daughter-in-law Megan R Walck (Leslie Walck), her parents Adolph and
Alma Garbisch, and by her sister Gladys and brother-in-law Chuck Warren, and two
nephews Chip Warren and KC Warren.
She lived with gratitude for God’s Grace and dedication to serving Christ. She is
remembered by family, former friends and parishioners with love, tenderness and
appreciation for her kindness, thoughtfulness, faithfulness, devotion and her sweet
smile.
A Memorial Service is planned for Saturday September 26 at 1:00 PM at St Stephen
Lutheran Church, 3510 72nd St, Urbandale, IA 50322.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
St Stephen Lutheran Church, 3510 72nd St, Urbandale, IA 50322,
Faith Lutheran Church, 10395 University Ave, Clive, IA 50325,
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, (for which checks can be
made out to Dan Walck, 10022 Tanglewood Drive, Urbandale, 50322, with “ELCPNG “
on the memo line),
and the Lutheran Services of Iowa’s Beloit Residential Treatment Center, 1323
Northwestern Ave, Ames, IA 50010.
If flower donations are preferred, please deliver between 12:00 and 12:30
Jackie Ziegeler – July 30th, 2026
Jackie Ziegeler died on Thursday July 30th. Jackie Ulmer was a nurse at Yagaum Hospital from 1961. She married Harold Ziegeler (Supply House) around 1962. Jackie’s funeral was held at Hope Valley Lutheran Church, 1215 Grand Junction Road, Hope Valley 5090, South Australia, on Friday August 14th. Here is a link to the service: http://mattiskefuhttps://vimeo.com/event/6111204/721e712406nerals.com.au/
Eulogy – Jacqueline Ziegeler
(nee Ulmer)
Jackie was born at home on the farm in Duff, Saskatchewan, a tiny farming community in the middle of the Canadian prairies. Ed was born 4 years later. Jackie was baptised on the 27th of February,1938 and later confirmed on 30 th March 1952.
Summers in the prairies are hot, and winters are bitterly cold, with sub-zero temperatures and thick snow. Their farm had no toilet, electricity or running water. When Jackie was 9, the family moved to Vancouver. After finishing school, Jackie trained as a nurse, picking strawberries and blueberries to pay for her fees. Following her graduation, she went to Bible School in Calgary.
Jackie had a heart for mission and wanted to help people so in July 1960, at the age of 22, she travelled to New Guinea to serve as a missionary nurse. She worked at Yagaum Hospital, a training hospital a few miles from Madang. She met Dad on the day she arrived in Madang, and after that, every time a driver was needed to transport a patient to or from the hospital, Dad volunteered! When they became engaged, Dad said Doctor Braun from the hospital was ‘not real happy’ to be losing a good nurse.
They (Jackie and Harold) married on the 11 th of February 1963. Their first home was on Graged Island, and later they lived closer to Madang. They had very few modern conveniences on Graged. When mum asked, “Where is the washing machine?” she was shown an old-fashioned wringer with 2 steel tubs and a kerosene lighter to heat the water up. Everything had to be done manually: fill the tub, heat the water, stir the clothes, feed them through the wringer, stir them in cold water and feed them through the wringer again! Mum quickly made plans to buy an electric washing machine the next time they were in Australia!
Cheryl, I and Ruth came along in 1963, ‘65 and ‘69 respectively, with Cheryl being born in Australia, and Ruth and I being born at Yagaum Hospital. After marrying, mum did not return to paid work but supported mission work from her front door and in the community. Many New Guineans didn’t have an easy way of getting to a hospital or
doctor’s clinic. So, with the support of Yagaum hospital, mum ran a dispensary on the front porch. People lined up to receive basic medication or advice for malaria, headaches, sores, pneumonia, scabies, ringworm, and probably many other things. She also treated minor injuries. Mum also helped with Sunday school, women’s groups, household duties, and of course activities in our lives, like Brownies and swimming practise. To help mum out, they employed a “haus girl” who helped with chores and babysat us while mum ran the dispensary.
In 1974 we moved to Goroka, a small town in the highlands. Dad was now in charge of “Lutheran Aviation,” a small mission airline service and mum now had the extra work of shopping for things that missionaries needed so they could be flown out to the stations where they lived.
She also hosted many mission travellers. Flights were often cancelled due to bad weather, and Mum soon learned not to strip the beds just because the traveller’s plane had taken off. Very often rough weather would force the plane back and the visitor would need their bed back for the night! In 1979 our family moved to Lae, where Dad was the business manager of Balob Teacher’s College.
Now that we were older, our activities increased and it was usually Mum who billeted students attending school or swimming events, and drove us around for piano lessons, swimming, hockey, athletics, Brownies and of course, social activities. They both volunteered as timekeepers at our swimming carnivals.
Mum also took on the role of First aid officer at the college, which had about 200 students. Among the things she handled were cuts, scrapes, sporting injuries and malaria. This was an important role. I remember many students with a high temperature of 40 degrees lying in our lounge under mum’s watchful eye. I also remember a student being sent to hospital with an extremely high temperature of 42 degrees, and another student dying from complications after a malaria attack.
In December 1981, Mum and Dad decided it was time to leave PNG and move to Australia. Mum spent 21 years in New Guinea, and Dad 29, a total of 50 years between them. Settling in Renmark, where there was family nearby, it didn’t take long to make Australia home. I do believe however, that part of their hearts always remained in NG. Mum quickly settled into church life; teaching Sunday School, taking on various roles in the Ladies’ Guild, getting involved in the Bible Society and prayer groups. Within the community, she volunteered at schools. She did some paid child minding and
respite work for Disability SA. Later she and Dad became emergency foster carers. At ‘the drop of a hat’ they would make themselves available for vulnerable children in need of a safe place to be. Mum invested a lot of emotional energy and care into this role.
Several trips were made back and forth to Canada and the USA – both for pleasure and to provide care and support for her mother.
Once Dad retired in the 1990’s they were able to travel around Australia. I don’t think Mum saw herself as a ‘camper’ but was pleasantly surprised as to how much she enjoyed driving and camping and seeing so much of this amazing country.
Her grandchildren Matthew and Andrew were born towards the end of their time in
Renmark. Along with Dad, she was happy to travel 1500km to Alice Spring in order to do a bit of baby-sitting.
In 2002 another move was made to continue their retirement here at Hope Valley. Again,
she did what she did best: she got involved with church life and volunteering, joining Bible study and Prayer groups, helping with the Wednesday worship services in the nursing home and organizing events such as the Hymn Fest to raise money for the Bible Society. During this time, she also provided more care and support for Dad
Dad passed away into the loving arms of Jesus on the 25 th of April 2010. My sister Ruth on the 14 th of April 2018. Mum was rock solid all the way – supporting, loving, caring and relying on God as her strength.
We are thankful to God for many things about mum.
She had great joy in life and laughed easily. Apparently, Dad heard mum laugh just before meeting her, and he was interested right then and there. He wrote, “Ron Johnston went to collect his fiancé and a new nurse from the airport. As they arrived, he said something funny that made the new nurse laugh. I was at the far end of the store, working. When she laughed, I said to myself, “That’s her,” and quickly came down to meet her. She was friendly and ensured people were included, talking to anyone, anywhere. This often made us last to leave church, even if we were the visitors!
She had the gift of hospitality. She cared for people by extending hospitality, especially at Christmas, when she would invite new people, or those who didn’t have family nearby. Having guests at Christmas was such a regular occurrence, that when there were no extra guests one year, it seemed really odd. Mum and Dad had a guest book, which visitors signed. This is the book you signed at the entry today. Mum would be delighted that it’s being used one last time.
We thank God for the way she connected with others by visiting and playing games. She
enjoyed playing scrabble – just for the fun of it, which is just as well as it was pretty hard to beat Auntie Alice or Auntie Rita.
Finally, we thank God for her deep faith, prayers and love for her family and friends. The
‘Joy of the Lord’ truly was her strength. Mum passed away on the 30 th of July at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. It was a little unexpected, but we know she is now in the care of the Lord, the great Healer. She will be remembered as a loyal, kind, caring, and faithful mother, wife, sister, grandma and friend.
Lorraine Annie Tennis – February 4, 2026
(https://www.burgarfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Lorraine-Annie-Tennis?obId=47195449)
Lorraine Annie Tennis of Camrose, Alberta, formerly of Ferintosh, passed away on Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at the age of 92 years.
Our dear mom, Lorraine Annie Tennis, second child of May and Adolf Hoff, was born June 15, 1933 at home on the family farm near Cluny, Alberta. She grew up surrounded by her three brothers and many close-in-age cousins. She recalled asking Jesus to come into her heart at a very young age, and her love for Him shone through in the way she offered hospitality and compassion towards others throughout her life.
Mom took her schooling in Cluny and at Luther College in Regina, followed by one year of teacher’s training at the University of Calgary. Always full of ideas and activities, she began teaching in one-room schoolhouses in southern Alberta and at Rosebrier School near Wetaskiwin.
In 1957, Mom boarded a ship to Papua New Guinea and her waiting fiancé, Wilmer Kurtz. As newlyweds and for the next 12 years they worked together under Lutheran Mission PNG; Wilmer as a pastor/missionary and Mom teaching school. Ingenuity, practicality, and creativity always defined Mom, but those traits flourished even more in such remote surroundings. With the arrivals of Allen, Valerie, and Brian, Mom cherished the opportunity to raise her children in this unique environment. In 1969, that special chapter of life came to a sudden end when Wilmer unexpectedly passed away while the family was on furlough back in North America. Mom’s strong faith saw her through this difficult period, and a few months later, God provided Mom with a teaching position in Falun, Alberta.
In 1973 Mom married Leonard Tennis, a farmer and former beau from her teaching days at Rosebrier. Sharon was born the following year, and Mom managed a busy farming household, including a baby, three adolescents/teens (plus one more when nephew Kelvin moved in to attend high school), as well as an enormous vegetable and flower garden, and yet always had the ability to make life fun. And when the grandchildren (and eventually great-grandchildren) began arriving, Mom thrived in her new roles.
After building their house in Camrose in 2005, which Mom had spent many years designing, Mom and Leonard left the farm and officially retired. Leonard passed away suddenly in 2007 and Mom was able to live out her days in the home she loved so much. On February 4th, 2026, at the age of 92 years, Mom left this life for her eternal home.
Lorraine is survived by her son Allen (Louise) Kurtz, their children Lowen and Alise (Braden) – Isla, Leeyell, and Allistair; by her daughter Valerie (Randy) Fiege, their children Stefan (Megan) – Landon and Carter, and Laurel (Peter) – Austin and Brielle; by her son Brian (Laura) Kurtz, their children Dakota, Naomi (Nathanael), and Caleb; and by her daughter Sharon (Michael) Sonnenberg and their children Jesse (fiancée Allison), Natalie, Georgia, and Noah. Lorraine is also survived by her brothers Vernon and Ken (Judy) Hoff; and sister-in-law Mary Hoff.
Lorraine was predeceased by her first husband, Wilmer Kurtz; second husband, Leonard Tennis; brother, Max Hoff; sister-in-law Jo Hoff; one grandchild; and one great-grandchild.
A Funeral Service was held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, February 14, 2026 at Calvary Lutheran Church in the County of Ponoka, officiated by Rev. Randy Fiege. A recording of the service can be viewed at the following link: Church (Part A) (Part B no longer available)
If family and friends so desire, memorial contributions in Lorraine’s memory may be made to Calvary Lutheran Church, Hungry for Life International, Mission Aviation Fellowship, or Faith Lutheran Church Sundre (Uganda School Mission).
Robert Knopke – January 25th, 2026
(From Elinor Radke)
Hello Wantoks,
I hope you are well. I had a phone call at the weekend from Meryl Knopke of the passing of her husband Robert on 25/01/2026. Meryl [nee Leske] worked at the KLS in 1962-1963. Meryl worked with Rita Janhke in the catering and laundry services for the school boarders.
Robert’s Memorial service will be Friday, 06 February at 1000 at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 23 Brendale Road, Toowoomba. Meryl has suggested those attending who wish to make a donation to the Gideon Bible Plan in lieu of flowers. Envelopes will be available.
Enjoy your day.
Em tasol. God i ken i stap wantaim yupela olgeta – Elinor Radke, Meri Madang.
Professor Paul Weiblen – December 23rd, 2025 (George Weiblen’s Dad)
To read earlier obituaries, click here. Obituaries, post-2023 Reunion
