Angeline Pottratz

Angeline Pottratz was born to Peter and Leona (Engels) Steele on January 22, 1925, in Lake Benton, Minnesota. She grew up in rural Lake Benton, attending school at Lake Benton public school. At the age of 65, she obtained her GED. In 1941, Angie relocated to Pipestone, Minnesota, where she met Adrian Pottratz. The couple were united in marriage on January 29, 1943, in Lake Benton and then moved to a farm outside of Ward, South Dakota. They were married until Adrian’s death in 1984. She worked as a self-employed housekeeper, in retail sales at the Montgomery Ward and Sears catalog stores, and later as a housekeeper at Pipestone County Medical Center, from which she retired in 1995 at 70 years of age. She also worked with her husband to raise their four children and her many gardens. Angie loved to go dancing and play cards. Throughout her life, she constantly worked jigsaw and crossword puzzles and played solitaire both with cards and digitally. After retirement, Angie kept busy around the house watching birds who flocked to her feeders, which she kept supplied even in the dead of winter, working in her flower and vegetable gardens, spending time on her porch watching the traffic, and studying her Bibles. Angie was transferred to Pipestone County Hospice House and, on November 7, 2022, she joined her husband Adrian with her Lord and Savior at the age of 97 years, 9 months, and 16 days.

Angie always had a green thumb. She would scatter flower seeds and they would grow. She loved to work in her garden and marveled at all of God’s creation. “The birds have to eat, too,” she would say. She enjoyed watching birds, squirrels, wild turkeys, and deer and listening to her wind chimes. She would crochet hand towels and afghans. She liked to walk the square and walk with her best friend Bandit, her beloved dog. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her, especially those lucky few who got to taste her homemade bread and cinnamon rolls, as well as her secret fried chicken recipe she made only for family reunions.

Angie is survived by her children; Gary (Nona) Pottratz of Pipestone, Linda Walker of Seattle, Washington, Dawn Klumper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Gayle (Gary) Madsen of Burbank, South Dakota; 11 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Adrian Pottratz, 10 brothers, 1 sister, 1 granddaughter, her parents Peter and Leona Steele, and several nieces and nephews.