Clara Kunkel

Clara Kunkel, the daughter of Gottfried and Anna (Heinitz) Schmiess was born on May 29, 1920 in Mountain Lake Township, Cottonwood County, MN. She was baptized on June 20, 1920 at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mountain Lake, and on July 21, 1935, she was confirmed in her faith at Trinity Lutheran Church in Carson, ND. Clara received her education in Carson. On August 31, 1939, Clara was united in marriage to Gottfried Kunkel at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mountain Lake. They made their home in the Mountain Lake area, where she was employed at Tony Downs Foods, the Mountain Lake Bakery and the Mountain Lake Public School as a cook. She was active with the Choir and as a Sunday School Teacher at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Her hobbies included baking and crocheting. Clara died at the age of 86 years at the Good Samaritan Village in Mountain Lake on February 2, 2007. Clara is survived by a son, Stanley and his wife Nancy of St. James, MN; a daughter-in-law, Dorothy Angevine and her husband Woody of Little Falls, MN; 6 grandchildren, Mindy Burman and her husband Mike of Rochester, MN, Kyla Kunkel of St. James, Todd Abbott of Waconia, MN; Jamie Kunkel and his wife Janice of Little Falls, MN, Scott Kunkel of Little Falls, Jody Kunkel of Silver Bay, MN; 13 great grandchildren; a sister, Alice Heine and her husband Ray of Sun City, AZ; 7 sisters-in-law, Bertha Besel, Darlene Kunkel and Lenora Kunkel, all of Mountain Lake, Doris Kunkel of Madelia, MN, Laura Blanshan of Ortonville, MN, Hertha Holland of Butterfield, MN, and Augusta Heintzelman of Bois de Arc, MO; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Clara was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Gottfried on March 16, 1984; a son James in 1988; a daughter, Anna Mae Abbott in 2003; and five brothers, David, Edward, Herman, Elmer and Gottfried.