Magdalena "Maggie" Bendewald, resident of Louisville Care Center at Louisville, Neb., went to be with her Lord on Nov. 3, 2012, at age 96. Maggie was formerly of Leola, which she called home. She also resided three years at Primrose Assisted Living, Aberdeen, and the Aberdeen Living Center, Aberdeen, for three years, before moving to Nebraska to the Louisville Care Center, where she has resided for the past eight years.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, at St. James Lutheran Church, Leola, with Pastor Deb Grismer officiating. Burial will follow at Green Mound Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home, 1111 South Main St., Aberdeen, and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.
Maggie Bendewald was born on Sept. 20, 1916, at Ashley, N.D., to Gottlieb and Sarah (Herman) Schaffer. This is the area where she attended rural school. She was married to John J. Bendewald on Oct. 6, 1935, at Ashley, N.D. They bought their farm northeast of Leola, where they farmed until 1957, when they moved to Leola, where she worked at the Leola Hospital until 1966. In 1966, she started working for the Leola school system in the lunchroom as a kitchen aide, where she worked for 28 years.
She was a member of St. James Lutheran Church in Leola and a member of ELCA. She also belonged to the Leola Senior Citizens and the Senior Citizens Choir.
Maggie loved baking, gardening and being around her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also liked reading her Bible and her Portals of Prayer.
Grateful for having shared Maggie's life are her daughter, Jennette Hoffman of Gretna, Neb.; two grandchildren, Tamara (Eric) Salverson of Gretna, Neb., and Timothy (Angela) Hoffman of Minneapolis, Minn.; and four great-grandchildren: Thomas, Reegan, and Daniel Salverson, and Vincent Mannella-Hoffman.
Her parents, Gottlieb and Sarah Schaffer; husband, John J. Bendewald; three brothers: Emil (Olivia) Schaffer, Enoch (Violet) Schaffer, and Edwin (Ada) Schaffer; three sisters: Emilia (Ernest) Nitschke, Lydia (Reinhold) Schilling, and Viola (Otto) Gohl; and her son-in-law, Mylo Hoffman preceded her in death.
Casketbearers will be: Timothy Hoffman, Eric and Thomas Salverson, Jim Schaffer, Gerald Bendewald, and Leslie Hoff.
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