Everhard "Abe" Spaeth
May
29, 1920 – January 8, 2003
Everhard “Abe”
Spaeth died peacefully at the Melrose Area Hospital on Wednesday. Born on
May 29, 1920 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Abe was the first child of William and
Katherine (Link) Spaeth.
Visitation will be held at the
Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose from 3:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12 and 8
to 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13. Melrose Senior Citizens will pray at 4 p.m. followed
by Knights of Columbus at 6 p.m., Melrose Veterans Honor Guard at 7 p.m. and
parish prayers at 8 p.m. Sunday evening at the funeral home in Melrose.
Funeral services will be at 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Jan. 13 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Vincent
Lieser officiating. Burial will follow in the parish cemetery with military
honors provided by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard.
Raised in Meire Grove, Minnesota Abe
graduated from Melrose High School in 1938. In 1941, Abe entered the U.S. Army.
Stationed in England, Abe served as a medic during the war. After Abe’s
discharge from the Army in 1945, Abe worked as a construction foreman for Lite
Rite Electric of Melrose.
On May 29, 1946 Abe and Ida Hoeschen
were married in the Sacred Heart Church in Freeport, Minnesota. On April 1, 1959
Abe and Ida Spaeth purchased the Thiers Bottling Company of Melrose, which they
operated as Spaeth Distributing, until Abe’s retirement in 1985.
Abe was a member of St. Mary’s
Catholic Church, Schanhaar-Otte VFW Post 7050, American Legion Post 101 and
Knights of Columbus Council 1633.
Survivors include his wife, Ida of Melrose; children, Carla Wells (Norm) of Dundas, Jeffrey Spaeth (Elizabeth) of Minneapolis, Michelle Mehr (David) of St. Joseph, Cydney Hennen (Tom) of St. Cloud; ten grandchildren; and one great granddaughter.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Jerome and Leander; and daughter, June Spaeth on July 5, 1965.