Lloyd F. Stapelmann

MOUNT HOREB/COTTAGE GROVE-Lloyd "Barney" Stapelmann, age 93, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018, at SSM Health-St. Mary's Hospital. He was born on October 29, 1924, in a stone house on Indian Lake in the Town of Berry to John and Selma (Beuthin) Stapelmann. Barney married Doris Nelson on April 15, 1950, in Iowa. He farmed his entire life and also retired from Oscar Mayer after 31 years. Barney was 93 years of age when he died. That is a long life and he lived a good life as well. He loved his family and he loved his farm; he loved to work and to grow things in his garden. He liked to play cards: Kings on the Corner, Golf, and especially euchre and have a beer after a long day. He liked to smile, laugh and joke and to make others smile and laugh; all with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He made his living off the land but made a life as well. His activities changed with the seasons, from harvesting and then creating and selling corn shocks in the fall; continuing on to coon hunting and all the off season work that goes with farming and managing the land. In the spring the cycle would begin again with plowing and planting. He was a hard worker which you had to be if you grew, cut, and hung tobacco as he had. He had sheep and he loved to fish. He made sausage, wine and sauerkraut; these crafts were handed down to him by his family and he shared these traditions with his family and friends. He provided for his family; not only in sustenance but in conveying love for the land, the value and meaning of work, and the steadiness and perseverance that life requires. He didn’t whine or complain; he did his best and accepted the outcome. In his later years, when he fell while tending to the zucchini in his garden he was found with a smile on his face and a chuckle. He was not mean and saved his choicest words for recalcitrant and difficult machinery. He loved his family and enjoyed being with them but probably didn’t appreciate the depth of their love and what he meant to them. Like an anchor of a boat or the foundation of a house, much was under water or soil and was unseen and sometimes forgotten but his strength and presence was vital to his wife, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. They will feel untethered and lost for a while but will come to understand that his life experience will guide them and always be there to show an example of love and a life well lived. The life of such a good man will resonate and echo through the many years and generations of his family still to come. Soon the tears will give way to smiles upon remembering him and the appreciation of how fortunate the family was and is, in having such a man at their center will ease any pain. Barney is survived by his wife, Doris; his children, Debbie Briggs, Bonnie (Warren) Leverentz, Jim Stapelmann, Dennis (Gloria) Stapelmann, Shelley (Allen) Day, Julie (Randy) Wright, and Christine (Wade) Davies; “adopted” daughters, Linda Devenpeck and Elsie Derer; grandchildren, Amy (Brian) Anderson, Geoff (Jamie) Briggs, Brad Putnam, Mike (Allie) Putnam, Cody (Stacie) Putnam, Lisa (Erich) Mussak, Josh Stapelmann, Lisa (Clint) James, Adam (Colleen) Taylor, Jason (Katy) Stapelmann, Nick Day (Alyssa), Kendra Day, Ben (Tiffanie) Wright, Christopher Wright, Kirby (Kalia) Wright, Isabelle Wright, Jamie Davies, Jake Davies (Amy), and Luke Davies; great-grandchildren Dustin, Oliver, Ben and Camerin Anderson, Abi and Aiden Briggs, Tucker, Avery, Evie and Brody Putnam, Zara Mussak, Colton and Kendall James, Marick Taylor, Lane, Henry, Sam and Jessie Stapelmann, Amaiya Day, Samantha and Olivia Wright; sister-in-law, Patricia Nelson; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Victor, Clarence and Robert; sisters, Rosetta Grob, Rosella Strouse, Bernice Stapelmann, Ruth Ace, Gertrude Ace, an infant sister, mother and father-in-law, Naaman and Frida Nelson, daughter-in-law, Tina Mancheski Stapelmann and brother-in-law, Leslie Nelson. Funeral services will be held at NEW HEIGHTS LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1705 Center Street, Black Earth, at 12 noon, on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, with a luncheon to follow. Visitation will be held at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to New Heights Lutheran Church or charity of choice. Gunderson Camacho Mount Horeb Funeral & Cremation Care 500 North 8th Street 608-437-5077