News Center newsletter

Donald E. Schwartzhoff, 83, of Waukon, formerly of Dorchester, died Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, WI. A private family funeral service was held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester with Fr. John Moser officiating. Burial with military honors was at the church cemetery Tuesday, August 4. Condolences may be sent to Chris Schwartzhoff at 521 South State Street, Prairie du Chien, WI 53821.

Donald Emmett Schwartzhoff was born March 30, 1937 to Emmett and Lillian (Doubek) Schwartzhoff. He attended Washington Country School through the eighth grade. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1956 and was stationed in Germany for two years.

In 1954, Don was introduced to the love of his life, Shirley Ann Link, by his uncle and aunt, Tom and Mary Ann Doubek. Don and Shirley were married August 9, 1958 in Caledonia, MN, and to this union eight children were born (not all at once!).

Edna Marie Wyninger, 68, of Lansing died Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at her home after a long battle with cancer. A private family Mass was held with Fr. Sean Smith as the celebrant. Inurnment will be held at a later date. The family asks that donations be sent to Crossing Rivers Hospice in Prairie du Chien, WI.

Edna was born July 4, 1952 to Gordon and Zola (Wiedner) Belden in Manchester. Edna was baptized in Elkader and graduated from East High School in Waterloo in 1970.

Edna was united in marriage with William (Bill) Wyninger January 29, 1971 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evansdale. They had four children from this union, Amy, Cary, Megan and Eric.

Veterans Memorial Hospital continues to reopen outpatient services such as ultrasound, cardiac stress testing and all elective colonoscopies, mammograms, physical, occupational, speech and cardiac rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, laboratory testing, massage therapy, immunizations and sleep studies.

One local patient, Donna Odegaard of Waukon, has visited Veterans Memorial Hospital for a number of tests and services since the onset of COVID-19, and states she feels safe with every visit she makes.

Veterans Memorial Hospital still encourages the continued use of face masks in the community especially now with numbers of cases again on the rise.  Since the CDC does still recommend that face masks be worn, Veterans Memorial Hospital continues to require all staff, visitors and patients to wear masks at all times within the facility.

The hospital and area community offices are also in need of child-size masks.  Many adult masks are too large on children, so smaller masks made to fit a smaller child’s face are in need.  Veterans Memorial Hospital as well as the Waukon Economic Development, Lansing City Clerk Office, Postville City Clerk Office and Monona Chamber of Commerce are all accepting these homemade masks.

Masks can be dropped off at the following locations:

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, August 3, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon to allow for more donors to give.    The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

The local blood drives continue to be held during COVID-19 since the need for blood is in more demand than ever. Life Serve team members only report to work if they are healthy and only healthy donors are eligible to give blood. Blood drives are essential medical services and not considered mass gatherings. The number of donors is limited to ensure donor separation and staff has strict cleaning and disinfection schedules. Other measures are also in place to ensure the safety of the blood supply so these lifesaving donations can continue during COVID-19.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care has availabilities for immunizations which are now held on an appointment-only basis. During COVID-19, the walk-in immunization clinics will remain on hold, but for those that want to call ahead and make an appointment, they can do so by calling 563-568-5660. When the appointment is made, instructions are given for the private location where the immunizations will be administered.

With school right around the corner, the Community and Home Care public health office advises families to make their appointments now to be sure all needed immunizations are received before school begins.

Immunizations are extremely important. They have eradicated Small Pox, eliminated polio from the Americas, and they have almost eliminated Tetanus, Diphtheria and Rubella.  Immunizations have greatly reduced the occurrence of Measles, Pertussis and Meningitis.  Millions of deaths and other tragedies have been prevented by vaccines.

Memorials were received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Alice Schlacke by Jerry and Linda Siegrist, Randy and Karen Loeb and Dave and Laurie Martin.

Memorials were also received in memory of Delores Walleser by Dave and Rita Newton, Diane Regan, Tharin and Bailey Meyer-Benson and Russ and Mary Jo Meyer.

Memorials in memory of Shirley Schulte were received on behalf of Cyril and Shirley Larkin, Tim and Sue Rose, George Pickett, and family and friends of Shirley Schulte.

In addition, memorials were also received in memory of Dorothy Cunningham by Mary Axmear, David and Suzanne Hahn, DVM, and family and friends of Dorothy Cunningham.

Memorials and donations are greatly appreciated by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation.  The Foundation is a 501C3 organization.

Ron Brandt of Waukon will be celebrating his 90th birthday August 7.

In honor of the occasion, cards and well wishes may be sent to 703 Fifth Street NW, Waukon, IA 52172.

The Word of the Day is SUFFERING

A reflection by Rev. Diane Koshmeder

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
—1 Corinthians 12:26

SUFFERING. I don’t like it. I’m sure you don’t like it either. It’s not fun and self-pity comes easily. SUFFERING might be an inconvenience like wearing a mask in public or the trauma of losing a child to violence. Theologians have asserted that “Why is there suffering?” is the #1 question we ask God. And there is no satisfactory answer.

Maybe a feeling of peace, feeling God’s presence through our SUFFERING, but not an answer as such.

To the Editor:

I so often hear statements that make me wonder about people’s priorities. I’m not getting much of a chance to visit with people about their priorities right now, so the best I can do is try to explain mine and hope someone will help me understand.

For me, life is the greatest priority, followed very closely by the dignity of the human person. When someone refuses to wear a mask because it takes away their freedom, they are telling us they care more about their personal freedom than they do about their life or mine.

When they say they don’t believe the science that says masks help, it tells me they don’t believe in the way nature works, including a virus. Science is, after all, the study of nature, of the way things work according to their very nature - the way they were made.