NEW ULM

Henry "Junior" Gieseke, 81, of New Ulm, died Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at the Benedictine Living Community in St. Peter. The funeral service will be 1:00 p.m. on Friday, February 17 at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Ulm with Pastor Donald Sutton officiating. The visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.


Henry is survived by his wife, Lorie Gieseke of New Ulm; daughters and sons-in-law, Ann and Jack Potter of Monticello, Janet and Chris Mertesdorf of Monticello, Angie and Sid Hartmann of Lafayette, Tera and James Willaert of New Ulm, Paula Gieseke and special friend, Matt Regner, of New Ulm, Kayla Gieseke of New Ulm; son, Jeff Haas and special friend, Anna Blythe, of New Ulm; grandchildren; Jessica Potter, Blake Haas, Cora Haas, Owen Hartmann, Savannah Willaert, Kelten Willaert, Abby Willaert, Skyler Schwab, Mason Regner; sisters, Alice Otto of New Ulm, Melba Hopp of Nicollet; and brother-in-law; Dave Breitung of St. Peter. He was preceded in death by his parents; mother and father-in-law, John and Ruby Sondag; brother, Walton Gieseke; and sisters, Laura Seeman, Mary Ann Bode, Bernice Breitung, and Carol Gieseke.


Henry Frederick Gieseke was born on May 11, 1930 in New Ulm to Henry and Mary (Fischer) Gieseke. He attended country school near New Ulm until the eighth grade. On June 29, 1986 Henry was united in marriage to Lorie Sondag at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Ulm. Henry farmed all his life and did custom farming as well as work with scrap iron. He loved playing Connect Four, playing cards, telling jokes and stories, woodworking, teasing the grandkids, visiting neighbors, and spending time with his friends and family. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the American Cancer Society and the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota.