Elroy Milton Picha, 90, of Montgomery, passed away Monday, June 3, 2019, at Mayo Clinic Health System New Prague Hospital. Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 6 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery with Mass of Christian Burial at 2:30 p.m. with Father Victor Valencia officiating. Burial will be at Trebon Cemetery.

James C. Mickus, age 85, of Savage died peacefully on May 29, 2019 at The Pillars Hospice Home in Oakdale.  Jim was born on December 7, 1933 in New Prague to Clement and Luverne (Nolden) Mickus.  He attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School, graduated from New Prague High School, attained his undergraduate degree from St. Thomas University, and his Masters and PhD from the University of Minnesota.  Jim taught chemistry at St. Thomas for 5 years and then worked in technical and commercial management for Cargill for 30 years.

Shirley A. Sticha, age 61, of Webster, died peacefully, surrounded by her family on Thursday, May 30, 2019 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. Shirley was born on September 25, 1957 in New Prague to William and Bernadine (Kubes) Svoboda. She attended St. Nicholas Parochial School and graduated from New Prague High School. Shirley married the love of her life, Charles A. “Charlie” Sticha on September 19, 1978 at St. Nicholas Church in New Market. The couple made their home in Webster where they raised their three children.

Lawrence Gregory Vavra, 78, originally from Lonsdale MN, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his wife and children on Friday, May 10, 2019 in Kennewick WA.
Lawrence “Larry” was born on May 9, 1941 on the family farm called “The Brown Place,“ located on County Rd. 61 (also called Circle Lake Trail) outside of Lonsdale, near Millersburg.

Clarence J. Malecha, age 87 of Faribault, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on May 28, 2019.  Preceded in death by his infant son, Andrew J. Malecha and siblings, Elaine Graff and Alvin Malecha. Survived by his best friend and wife of 63 years, Virginia; children, Linda (Paul) Meyer, Sandra (Tom) Saunders, Pauline (Dennis) Malecha, Greg (Renee) Malecha, Karen (Todd) Dalebroux, and Laura (Jay) Storlie; 15 grandchildren; 10 great- grandchildren; sister-in-law, Cathy Malecha and all other loving relatives and friends.

Gertrude Catherine (Bushard) Klaras, 10-06-1931 to 5-24-2019. Born and raised near St. George and graduated from New Ulm Catholic School in 1949. Gertrude married Richard Klaras of St. James, MN in September 27, 1952. Together Dick and Gertie created quite the family. And, as the family grew, they moved from St. James to Victoria, MN and finally settling on an eighty-acre parcel in rural Rice County, west of Webster, MN. Richard and Gertrude had 10 children together; Jeff, Cathy, Lynn, Mike (Mary), Tom, Agnes, Bill (Shelley), Tony, Steve (Jenny), Barb (Jim) Kivisto.

Goldie M. Novak, age 102, died peacefully, May 26, 2019 at Sunrise Senior Living in Edina.  She was born January 8, 1917 in Lanesburgh Township, Le Sueur County, MN to Fred August Jahn and Sophie M. (Ruehling) Jahn.  She grew up in rural New Prague and attended Le Sueur County District School. 

Leonard J. Pexa, age 80, of New Prague died peacefully, with family by his side on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at Reflections, Three Links Care Center, Northfield, MN.
Leonard was born October 5, 1938 in Helena Township, Scott County, MN to Wencel “Jim” Pexa and Bessie (Kadrlik) Pexa. He was raised in the St. Patrick area and attended District 47 Elementary School, St. Wenceslaus School, and graduated in 1956 from New Prague High School.

Talitha Rose Mueller, age 16 of South St. Paul, MN ended her years-long struggle with A-T (ataxia telangiectasia) on Friday, May 17, 2019 at Gillette Children’s Hospital.

Francis Hager, age 91, of Waseca, died peacefully on Friday, May 17, 2019 at Mala Strana Rehabilitation Center.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:30 AM on Tuesday, May 21, at Church of the Sacred Heart in Waseca with Fr. Gregory Leif as celebrant. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 4-7 PM on Monday, May 20, with a parish prayer service at 7 PM at Church of the Sacred Heart in Waseca. Visitation will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday.
Memorials are preferred to the Sacred Heart Education Endowment.

Edward Harry Meyer, age 82, of Stillwater, MN went to heaven on May 16, 2019. Edward was born in rural New Prague, MN to Harry and Lillie (Grassman) Meyer on December 14, 1936. He graduated from New Prague High School in 1954. He attended Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN and graduated in 1958. He taught elementary school in the inner city of Milwaukee, WI and in Jefferson, WI. In 1969, he became professor of music at Dr. Martin Luther College. He received the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Iowa.

Harriet  R. Wagner, age 81 of Le Sueur, died Tuesday, May 14, 2019 after a several month long battle with ALS.  She passed away peacefully at the Regency Hospital in Golden Valley with her loving family by her side.  Visitation will be from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 19 at the Kolden Funeral Home in Le Sueur, and one hour prior to service time.  Funeral will be 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 20 at Zion U.C.C. in Le Sueur with Rev. Kent Meyer officiating.  Interment will be in Mound Cemetery, Le Sueur. 

Helen E. Meger, age 80, of rural Le Center, Minnesota passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on May 5, 2019 at the Central Health Care in Le Center, Minnesota.
Helen was born on June 9, 1938 in Spooner, Wisconsin.  She worked at Indianhead Café in Spooner and after graduating from Spooner High School in 1961, she moved to Wausau, Wisconsin. Four years later she moved to Minnesota.
After moving to the New Prague, Le Center area, she worked at Munsingwear for 22 years. 
She was married to Robert Meger on November 25, 1961.  They lived at the farmhouse since then.

Dave Velishek, of Prior Lake, passed away May 2, 2019 at the age of 75.  A visitation will be held on Monday, May 6, 2019 from 3:00 – 7:00 PM.  Mass of Christian Burial is Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at 11:00 AM with visitation from 9:30 – 10:45 AM.  All services will be held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake.  Father Tom Walker will preside, and Dave’s grandchildren will act as pallbearers.  Dave will be laid to rest at Credit River Cemetery with military honors provided by the Prior Lake Honor Guard. 

Irma Emma Kohout, 95, of Montgomery, passed away on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at The Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine. Private family services will be held. Interment will be held in Calvary Cemetery in Montgomery.
Irma was born on January 1, 1924 in Rice County to William and Anna (Hanek) Turek. Irma was united in marriage to Edward Filipek on February 12, 1941, and to Edward Kohout on May 4, 1973.

Kenneth James “Ken” Pasek, age 64, of Montgomery, died Wednesday, April 24, 2019, at his residence in Montgomery.  Ken was born on April 18, 1955 in New Prague to James C. and Alice Marie (Kroyer) Pasek.  He grew up in New Prague and graduated from New Prague High School.  During high school, he worked for Bilek Bakery and immediately after high school, he began work at the flour mill and worked there until 2011.  Ken loved music, movies, and show cars.