Individual Details
Monica Elizabeth Notch
(January 25, 1911 - March 1, 2008)
Monica E. Kerfeld, 97
Sauk Centre, Jan. 25, 1911 March 1, 2008
Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 5 at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Sauk Centre for Monica Kerfeld who died Saturday at her home. Rev. James Statz will officiate with interment following in Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. Parish prayers will be at 5 p.m. followed by Christian Mothers and St. Rosa Lions rosary at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
Survivors include seven children, Dorine (Jack) Laudenbach of Sartell, Joan (Clarence) Rueter of Hackensack, Ervin (Jeannette) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Arthur (Rosemary) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Kathy Schiller of Anoka, Leon (Sue) Kerfeld of St. Cloud/Grey Eagle, and Kevin (Mary) Kerfeld of Sauk Centre; 38 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Elizabeth (Korte) Notch; husband, Leo Kerfeld on September 8, 1994; grandson, Eric Laudenbach; brothers, Herman, Joseph, Alphonse, Edwin, Maurice, Lawrence Notch; infant brothers, John and Theodore Notch; sisters, Katherine Van Heel, Mary McKenney, Dorothy Frevel, Elizabeth Warneke, Sr. Mary Neil Notch, OSB, Agnes Van Heel, Adella Thell and Sr. Ann Notch, OSB. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Holy Family School, Sauk Centre and the Poor Clares Monastery, Sauk Rapids.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Monica Kerfeld last of the 'super 17'
by Carol Moorman Staff writer
"I'm just a farm girl."
Many would differ with 93-year-old Monica Kerfeld of Sauk Centre, saying she is much more. After all, she is the only remaining child of John and Elizabeth (Korte) Notch, and there were 17 of them.
On Aug. 1 Monica enjoyed visiting with relatives at the Notch family reunion held in the Freeport Community Center. She even autographed photos of herself in "John Henry Notch Family Tree Book III."
Growing up
Monica said life in rural Freeport with all these siblings was never boring. Born on Jan. 25, 1911, she was the 12th oldest of 17 children, two of which died at a young age. Thanks to their parents they were rooted with a deep religious faith, family togetherness and hard work.
As her youngest sister, Hildegarde (Sister Neil) wrote in the book, "From their early married life, they (her parents) must have planted God's love into each little heart that graced their married love."
Often her mother would sit in the rocking chair saying the rosary. And if she and her siblings had a hard time going to sleep at night, mainly because they were too busy talking, the threat of having to say the rosary would quiet them. And if not, the sound of their father's footsteps on the stairs surely did.
They were never late for Sunday Mass. To ensure this, their mother set the clock ahead.
One of the highlights was the coming of St. Nicklaus. When they wrote their Christmas list to Krist-Kind, they would slip it under the door of the Grosses Zimmer; a door that remained locked until after Christmas.
Because there were 15 mouths to feed, sweets, like candy, were a rarity, but every Sunday they had homemade cake and Kuchen bread. Syrup-soaked sandwiches were a common commodity in their school lunch pails.
Monica said they walked the two miles each day to Sacred Heart School in Freeport.
"We wore long underwear under our dresses and when we'd get close to school we'd roll the underwear up so nobody would see them," said Monica. "When it snowed we'd take the horse and sled and take the neighbor kids along. The next time is would be their turn."
A photo of Monica's youngest brother, Maurice, sits on her kitchen table of her Sauk Centre apartment.
"He's the caboose," she told her son, Art, who stopped in to visit on Wednesday morning.
Maurice wrote in the family tree book that he remembered his mother's letters written to him in German when he was stationed in the service.
"As a very young child I thought there was only so much love to go around and the larger the family, the less there would be for each child, but I soon realized that the deep seated love of the folks seemed only to be magnified because of all of us in the family," wrote Maurice.
Married life
Monica met Leo Kerfeld of St. Rosa, and they married on May 10, 1933. At the time she worked for the Koenig family in Melrose, where she also lived. A yellow homemade dress she wore on her first date with Leo hangs on her apartment wall. Much else about that first date she can't recall, other than that she thinks "we went to my folks' in a horse and sled."
"I decided she was the gal for me. Later on I often wondered what a brave man I must have been, wanting to get married to a girl from a family of 17 children," Leo Kerfeld wrote in his version of the family history titled "The Ups and Downs of the 3 Kerfeld Generations."
Monica talks of how just a few days before their Tuesday wedding, she and Leo had to endure questions from Father Maurus.
"When some of the young guys from Freeport heard about our marriage, they tried to scare me by saying that when I would go to father for instructions, he'd ask questions from the first to the last page," wrote Leo.
Fr. Maurus, holding his catechism, asked questions and "I had him convinced that we were qualified for the big step," wrote Leo.
As a Notch ritual, Monica's mother signed Monica and Leo with the sign of the cross and holy water before they were married; a tradition that was continued by John after Elizabeth died. A parental blessing with holy water was done also when a son or daughter left home in search of work, or in the case of two sisters, when they left to join the convent.
Monica recalls that Lawrence Notch and Hilda Kerfeld were their attendants for the 10 a.m. wedding, which was followed by a chicken soup, a big dinner and a dance at the St. Rosa Garage that went until 4 a.m.
"As we sat down to dinner, Father Maurus looked at his soup and said, 'Das ist aber stolze soup. Die kuckt eine nicht an.' That means, 'proud soup doesn't even look at a person.' Meaning there was no fat beads on it," Leo wrote in his history book.
Monica was 22 and Leo was 26. She purchased her wedding dress at Herberger's in St. Cloud for $10. Her wedding bouquet, aphelia roses and pink sweet peas, and the bridesmaid's pink carnations and yellow sweet peas were purchased at Sauk Centre Greenhouse for $7. Two and one-half dozen wedding photographs from Rydholm's cost $19.
So what did they get as wedding gifts? "An 8x13 aluminum pan and one to make a loaf of bread and also a hand-held potato masher," said Monica.
The next day they started farming on the home place, west of St. Rosa.
To help furnish their home, Monica used her savings to purchase items like a three-piece bedroom set for $39.95, a spring for $5.48 and a mattress for $7.88; a dining room set which included a buffet for $49.95, an ironing board for $1.49, two tubs for $1.47, a wash boiler for $2.39, a wash board for 63¢ and a broom for 29¢.
It was the height of the Depression. "We brought the cattle up north," said Monica. "Because of the drought," Art adds to the story he's heard before.
Monica, who was pregnant with their first child, went along to prepare meals. She smiles when telling how they returned home just two weeks before their daughter's birth. "I thought I'd have her in Bemidji," said Monica.
Her children include Dorine (Jack) Laudenbach of Sartell, Joan (Clarence) Rueter of Hackinsack, Ervin (Jeannette) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Art (Rosie) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Kathy Schiller of Anoka, Leon (Sue) Kerfeld of St. Cloud and Kevin (Mary) Kerfeld of Sauk Centre.
For 31 years Monica and Leo farmed west of St. Rosa using John Deere tractors and raising Brown Swiss cattle. Leo enjoyed games of Skat, a cold beer on a hot day and a walk in the fields. Monica cared for their family and home and enjoyed tending to a large garden and her flowers beds. African violets were her favorite flowers. She also tended to her chickens which were a means of egg money.
Art recalls listening to the radio years ago and celebrities like Red Skelton and Gene Autry. "We didn't get a bathroom until '51 and a television the following year," said Art.
"Remember when we'd get the ice cream freezer from Aunt Mary," Monica said, looking at Art. "You'd eat ice cream in a great big cereal bowl and stick your feet in the oven."
In 1964 Monica and Leo moved off the home farm into Sauk Centre and Ervin and Jeannette took over the family farm which since 2003 has been run by their son, Randy. Leo passed away on Sept. 8, 1994, and in 1998 Monica moved to her apartment at Lakeshore Estate in Sauk Centre.
"We would have been married 71 years this year," said Monica, with her right arm perched in a familiar position over the arm of the chair. A photo of her and Leo hangs on the wall above her, with his memorial card tucked in a corner. Below, a red and white checkered apron lays over a step-stool.
Her pecan pies and egg noodles are a family favorite. "I'm still noodling," she said explaining she gets the double yolks from a chicken farm in St. Rosa. "She still makes molasses cookies for us," said Art.
Nearby in her kitchen is a well-worn sewing machine. Art explains how she still sews for people. She also sews leach trap bags for Don Petermeier.
"He said 'I hope 10 years from now you'll still be doing this,'" said Monica. "I said, 'that would make me 103. We'll see.'"
Sauk Centre, Jan. 25, 1911 March 1, 2008
Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 5 at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Sauk Centre for Monica Kerfeld who died Saturday at her home. Rev. James Statz will officiate with interment following in Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. Parish prayers will be at 5 p.m. followed by Christian Mothers and St. Rosa Lions rosary at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
Survivors include seven children, Dorine (Jack) Laudenbach of Sartell, Joan (Clarence) Rueter of Hackensack, Ervin (Jeannette) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Arthur (Rosemary) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Kathy Schiller of Anoka, Leon (Sue) Kerfeld of St. Cloud/Grey Eagle, and Kevin (Mary) Kerfeld of Sauk Centre; 38 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Elizabeth (Korte) Notch; husband, Leo Kerfeld on September 8, 1994; grandson, Eric Laudenbach; brothers, Herman, Joseph, Alphonse, Edwin, Maurice, Lawrence Notch; infant brothers, John and Theodore Notch; sisters, Katherine Van Heel, Mary McKenney, Dorothy Frevel, Elizabeth Warneke, Sr. Mary Neil Notch, OSB, Agnes Van Heel, Adella Thell and Sr. Ann Notch, OSB. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Holy Family School, Sauk Centre and the Poor Clares Monastery, Sauk Rapids.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Monica Kerfeld last of the 'super 17'
by Carol Moorman Staff writer
"I'm just a farm girl."
Many would differ with 93-year-old Monica Kerfeld of Sauk Centre, saying she is much more. After all, she is the only remaining child of John and Elizabeth (Korte) Notch, and there were 17 of them.
On Aug. 1 Monica enjoyed visiting with relatives at the Notch family reunion held in the Freeport Community Center. She even autographed photos of herself in "John Henry Notch Family Tree Book III."
Growing up
Monica said life in rural Freeport with all these siblings was never boring. Born on Jan. 25, 1911, she was the 12th oldest of 17 children, two of which died at a young age. Thanks to their parents they were rooted with a deep religious faith, family togetherness and hard work.
As her youngest sister, Hildegarde (Sister Neil) wrote in the book, "From their early married life, they (her parents) must have planted God's love into each little heart that graced their married love."
Often her mother would sit in the rocking chair saying the rosary. And if she and her siblings had a hard time going to sleep at night, mainly because they were too busy talking, the threat of having to say the rosary would quiet them. And if not, the sound of their father's footsteps on the stairs surely did.
They were never late for Sunday Mass. To ensure this, their mother set the clock ahead.
One of the highlights was the coming of St. Nicklaus. When they wrote their Christmas list to Krist-Kind, they would slip it under the door of the Grosses Zimmer; a door that remained locked until after Christmas.
Because there were 15 mouths to feed, sweets, like candy, were a rarity, but every Sunday they had homemade cake and Kuchen bread. Syrup-soaked sandwiches were a common commodity in their school lunch pails.
Monica said they walked the two miles each day to Sacred Heart School in Freeport.
"We wore long underwear under our dresses and when we'd get close to school we'd roll the underwear up so nobody would see them," said Monica. "When it snowed we'd take the horse and sled and take the neighbor kids along. The next time is would be their turn."
A photo of Monica's youngest brother, Maurice, sits on her kitchen table of her Sauk Centre apartment.
"He's the caboose," she told her son, Art, who stopped in to visit on Wednesday morning.
Maurice wrote in the family tree book that he remembered his mother's letters written to him in German when he was stationed in the service.
"As a very young child I thought there was only so much love to go around and the larger the family, the less there would be for each child, but I soon realized that the deep seated love of the folks seemed only to be magnified because of all of us in the family," wrote Maurice.
Married life
Monica met Leo Kerfeld of St. Rosa, and they married on May 10, 1933. At the time she worked for the Koenig family in Melrose, where she also lived. A yellow homemade dress she wore on her first date with Leo hangs on her apartment wall. Much else about that first date she can't recall, other than that she thinks "we went to my folks' in a horse and sled."
"I decided she was the gal for me. Later on I often wondered what a brave man I must have been, wanting to get married to a girl from a family of 17 children," Leo Kerfeld wrote in his version of the family history titled "The Ups and Downs of the 3 Kerfeld Generations."
Monica talks of how just a few days before their Tuesday wedding, she and Leo had to endure questions from Father Maurus.
"When some of the young guys from Freeport heard about our marriage, they tried to scare me by saying that when I would go to father for instructions, he'd ask questions from the first to the last page," wrote Leo.
Fr. Maurus, holding his catechism, asked questions and "I had him convinced that we were qualified for the big step," wrote Leo.
As a Notch ritual, Monica's mother signed Monica and Leo with the sign of the cross and holy water before they were married; a tradition that was continued by John after Elizabeth died. A parental blessing with holy water was done also when a son or daughter left home in search of work, or in the case of two sisters, when they left to join the convent.
Monica recalls that Lawrence Notch and Hilda Kerfeld were their attendants for the 10 a.m. wedding, which was followed by a chicken soup, a big dinner and a dance at the St. Rosa Garage that went until 4 a.m.
"As we sat down to dinner, Father Maurus looked at his soup and said, 'Das ist aber stolze soup. Die kuckt eine nicht an.' That means, 'proud soup doesn't even look at a person.' Meaning there was no fat beads on it," Leo wrote in his history book.
Monica was 22 and Leo was 26. She purchased her wedding dress at Herberger's in St. Cloud for $10. Her wedding bouquet, aphelia roses and pink sweet peas, and the bridesmaid's pink carnations and yellow sweet peas were purchased at Sauk Centre Greenhouse for $7. Two and one-half dozen wedding photographs from Rydholm's cost $19.
So what did they get as wedding gifts? "An 8x13 aluminum pan and one to make a loaf of bread and also a hand-held potato masher," said Monica.
The next day they started farming on the home place, west of St. Rosa.
To help furnish their home, Monica used her savings to purchase items like a three-piece bedroom set for $39.95, a spring for $5.48 and a mattress for $7.88; a dining room set which included a buffet for $49.95, an ironing board for $1.49, two tubs for $1.47, a wash boiler for $2.39, a wash board for 63¢ and a broom for 29¢.
It was the height of the Depression. "We brought the cattle up north," said Monica. "Because of the drought," Art adds to the story he's heard before.
Monica, who was pregnant with their first child, went along to prepare meals. She smiles when telling how they returned home just two weeks before their daughter's birth. "I thought I'd have her in Bemidji," said Monica.
Her children include Dorine (Jack) Laudenbach of Sartell, Joan (Clarence) Rueter of Hackinsack, Ervin (Jeannette) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Art (Rosie) Kerfeld of St. Rosa, Kathy Schiller of Anoka, Leon (Sue) Kerfeld of St. Cloud and Kevin (Mary) Kerfeld of Sauk Centre.
For 31 years Monica and Leo farmed west of St. Rosa using John Deere tractors and raising Brown Swiss cattle. Leo enjoyed games of Skat, a cold beer on a hot day and a walk in the fields. Monica cared for their family and home and enjoyed tending to a large garden and her flowers beds. African violets were her favorite flowers. She also tended to her chickens which were a means of egg money.
Art recalls listening to the radio years ago and celebrities like Red Skelton and Gene Autry. "We didn't get a bathroom until '51 and a television the following year," said Art.
"Remember when we'd get the ice cream freezer from Aunt Mary," Monica said, looking at Art. "You'd eat ice cream in a great big cereal bowl and stick your feet in the oven."
In 1964 Monica and Leo moved off the home farm into Sauk Centre and Ervin and Jeannette took over the family farm which since 2003 has been run by their son, Randy. Leo passed away on Sept. 8, 1994, and in 1998 Monica moved to her apartment at Lakeshore Estate in Sauk Centre.
"We would have been married 71 years this year," said Monica, with her right arm perched in a familiar position over the arm of the chair. A photo of her and Leo hangs on the wall above her, with his memorial card tucked in a corner. Below, a red and white checkered apron lays over a step-stool.
Her pecan pies and egg noodles are a family favorite. "I'm still noodling," she said explaining she gets the double yolks from a chicken farm in St. Rosa. "She still makes molasses cookies for us," said Art.
Nearby in her kitchen is a well-worn sewing machine. Art explains how she still sews for people. She also sews leach trap bags for Don Petermeier.
"He said 'I hope 10 years from now you'll still be doing this,'" said Monica. "I said, 'that would make me 103. We'll see.'"
Events
| Birth | January 25, 1911 | MN | |||
| Marriage | May 10, 1933 | Leo Henry Kerfeld | |||
| Death | March 1, 2008 | Sauk Centre, MN |
Families
| Spouse | Leo Henry Kerfeld (1906 - 1994) |
| Child | Dorine Kerfeld |
| Child | Joan Kerfeld |
| Child | Ervin Kerfeld |
| Child | Arthur Kerfeld |
| Child | Katherine Kerfeld |
| Child | Leon Kerfeld |
| Child | Kevin Kerfeld |
| Father | John Henry Notch (1871 - 1955) |
| Mother | Elizabeth Ann Korte (1873 - 1947) |
| Sibling | Dorothy Notch (1894 - 1972) |
| Sibling | Katherine Notch (1896 - 1973) |
| Sibling | Mary Notch (1897 - 1976) |
| Sibling | Agnes Notch (1900 - 2001) |
| Sibling | Herman Joseph Notch (1901 - 1985) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Notch (1902 - 1993) |
| Sibling | Alphonse Henry Notch (1907 - 1992) |
| Sibling | Della Notch (1908 - 2003) |
| Sibling | John Henry Notch Jr. (1909 - 1980) |
| Sibling | Lawrence August Notch (1909 - 2000) |
| Sibling | Hildegarde Mary Neil Notch Sr. (1913 - 1995) |
| Sibling | Edwin Henry Notch (1915 - 1997) |
| Sibling | Maurice Anthony Notch (1921 - 1995) |
| Sibling | Ann OSB Notch Sr. (1923 - ) |