David Oldemeyer

DAVID OLDEMEYER was born to Rens and Nettie (Weeks) Oldemeyer on October 2, 1920 in Frazee, Minnesota. When he was two years old, he moved with his parents to southwest Minnesota where he was raised on several farms in both Murray and Pipestone Counties. He attended country school in District #14 and then the school in Woodstock, Minnesota. He continued his education at Pipestone High School. After his graduation in 1938, he was employed by several farmers in the Woodstock area. On August 21, 1942, he entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Europe with the 508th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. He served as the assistant to the chaplain in Graves Registration in Normandy. He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded a Bronze Star. During the time he was in the service, Dave was united in marriage to Elizabeth “Lib” Warlick at Trinity Methodist Church in Durham, North Carolina on June 8, 1946. Following their marriage, Dave completed his service as a security guard for President Eisenhower. After his discharge from the service on November 9, 1946, they returned to the Woodstock area and farmed in Burke Township west of Woodstock. In 1955, they moved to a farm near Holland, Minnesota. In 1960, they purchased a farm in Rock Township where they continued to farm until their retirement. In November, 2002, Lib and Dave moved off their farmstead into Pipestone. On August 6, 2009, Lib preceded him in death. He became a resident of Falls Landing Assisted Living in Pipestone on November 9, 2009. On July 30, 2010, he entered the Pipestone County Hospice House where he died on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at the age of 90 years, seven months and 23 days.

In 1956, Dave became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Holland where he served several terms on the Session and also served as Clerk of the Session. He was an active member of the Earl Gruis American Legion Post #534. He served several terms on the Community Health Board for Lincoln, Lyon, Murray and Pipestone Counties. He also served on the Holland Elevator Board, the Rock Township Board, and the Soil Conservation Board. In 1989, he and his son traveled to Honduras as part of the Heifer Project, which was a work study program to assist the local farmers with projects involving their livestock. For more than 20 years, he and his wife enjoyed traveling during the winter months to Arizona and California to spend time with their children. While wintering in Arizona, Dave kept busy building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Arizona and Mexico for a couple of years. Throughout the years, he enjoyed quarter horses. He was an avid Twins fan, he loved to read, and he enjoyed wood carving and sketching. For many years, he was very active in the Democratic Party.

He is lovingly remembered by his five children, Sara Heard and her husband Jim of Edgerton, Minnesota, John Oldemeyer and his wife Judy of Holland, Minnesota, Nancy Oldemeyer of Chula Vista, California, Deb Axelson and her husband Rick of Coralville, Iowa, and Rae Vermeal and her husband Randie of Tucson, Arizona; six grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lib; his parents; one brother, Henry John Oldemeyer; and one sister, Ida May O’Neill.