Mabel C. (Bleha) Pfuehler

PORTAGE  –  Mabel C. (Bleha) Pfuehler, age 89, died on Saturday, November 5, 2011, at Tivoli, in Portage.

Mabel was born on September 30, 1922, in Salem, South Dakota, the daughter of Anton and Barbara (Werdel) Bleha.  Her family moved to Ree Heights, South Dakota where she attended school.  After graduating from high school, she went to Seattle, Washington and worked at Boeing Aircraft.  There she met her future husband, Oscar Pfuehler.  He was stationed there training on the Boeing B29 Superfortress. They were married May 6, 1945 at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage while Oscar was still in the Air Force.  They were stationed in Memphis, Tennessee.  After his discharge in September 1945, they came back to the family farm in Fort Winnebago Township.  Mabel was town treasurer and emergency fire warden for 25 years.  She loved her flowers and babysitting.  

Mabel is survived by her brother, Dale Bleha, Klamath Falls, Oregon; two sisters-in-law, Alice Bleha, Highmore, South Dakota, and Bernice Bleha, Seattle, Washington; her very special family, Henry and Betty Nadolski, Portage; Paul, Jennifer, Matthew, Jacob and David Nadolski, Pardeeville, Benjamin, Nicholas and Andrew Nadolski, Brandon; her sisters-in-law, Ethel Peterson, Rio, Arlene Lesser, Wilma Pfuehler, Portage, and Phyllis Huebner, Monroe, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.  Mabel was preceded in death by her loving husband of 61 years, Oscar Pfuehler, her parents, three sisters, Loretta Bleha, Leone Seimen, and Roseanna Keister, two brothers, Leo Bleha, and Bernard Bleha, a sister-in-law, Darlene Bleha, brothers-in-law, Gerald Seimen and Raymond Keister, a special nephew, Jerry Seimen, and a special family member, Heather Nadolski.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, at 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage, with Pastor Alan Boeck officiating.  Burial will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery.  Visitation will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home, in Portage, and on Wednesday, from 11:30 a.m., until the time of the service, at the church.  

Memorials may be made to Open Arms Child Development Center.