Appleton Press, May 15, 1931- Obituary- F. C. Wilkening Dies Saturday. Friedrich Conrad Henry Wilkening died at his home in Shible township of tuberculosis, Saturday, May 2. Mr. Wilkening enjoyed good health until 1927. He underwent an operation that year and had been an invalid since that time. Mr. Wilkening was born October 17, 1867, at Eagle Lake, Will county, Ill. He came to Minnesota in 1895 and made his home until his marriage with Phillip Shreck in Shible township. He was married June 10, 1898 to Mary Kohlman. This union was blessed with four children, Agnes, Edwin, Leo and Blondina. Mrs. Wilkening passed away in 1904 and Blondina, February 13, 1931. On October 7, 1909, he married Mrs. Mathilda Gronholz and one son was born to them, Elmer. Besides his wife and four children he is survived by five step-children, William, Alma, Mathilda, Hilda, and Paul Gronholz, 14 grandchildren and two brothers, William of Shible township and John of Cissna Park, Ill. Mr. Wilkening was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Shible and an elder in that church for a number of years. He was assessor in Shible township for 25 years and served on the district school board a number of years. Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon from the home and Shible church conducted by Rev. Paul Gierke. The pall bearers were Emil Gronholz, Ernest Radtke, Phillip Schreck, Christ Paul, William Schwarz and William Behrens. Relatives from a distance here to attend the funeral were John Wilkening of Cissna Park, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Kratzke, Mr. and Mrs. John Storhe and Louis Kratzke of Lamberton.

From Swift County History- 1979 publication. Fred and Mary (Kohlman) Wilkening Conrad Johann Wilkening immigrated from Hegesdorf, Chuv Hesson, Germany to Will Co., IL. There he married Mary Engle Tightmeier. Fred, one of 6 children, came to Shible township in 1896 and married Mary Kohlman in 1898. He farmed in Shible township unti his death in 1931. Children born to this union were Agnes, Edwin, Leo and Blondina. Mary died in 1904 in childbirth. Conrad married Mathelda Gronholz, a widow with 5 children, in 1910 and 1 child, Elmer was born to that union. Fred was active in Immanuel Lutheran Church, Shible township, and school and assessor of Shible township for many years. Agnes married Herman Rieppel and lives in Fairfield township; Edwin married Martha Behlen and is deceased; Leo, a retired carpenter, lives in Appleton and is married to Mary Behrens. Blondina married William Reinke and died in 1931. Elmer died while swimming in 1934 at the age of 22.

Appleton Press- October 25, 1929- Obituary- Mrs. Dietrich Schlueterbusch Dies Sunday- Mrs. Dietrich Schlueterbusch passed away Sunday morning at the Kaufman hospital of exothalmic goitre, after a life spent in service and help to others. Emma Wilkening was born March 6, 1871 at Eagle Lake, Ill. This was her home until 1904 when she came to Minnesota and kept house for her brother, Fred Wilkening, on his farm in Shible. She returned to Eagle Lake five years later and from 1917 to 1922 was employed in Chicago, Ill. On October 6, 1922 she was married to Dietrich Schluterbusch of this city. She is survived by her husband and three brothers, Fred and William Wilkening of Shible, and John Wilkening of Cissna Park, Ill. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at one o'clock from the Trinity Lutheran Church. Interment was in the Shible church cemetery. Rev. H. A. Faedtke officiated at the services at the church and cemetery. The pall bearers were Phillip Schreck, Ferdinand Teske, J. C. Behlen, Fred Hecht, Charles Radtke and George Schmidt. John Wilkening and Fred Luecke of Cissna Park, Ill., Mr. and Mrs. Emil Wilkening of St. James, Mr. and Mrs. John Bruns and Mr. and Mrs. D. Bruns of Mankato were here to attend the funeral.

If you have come to my website via Ancestry: Several years ago the genealogy giant Ancestry absorbed the genealogy websites of Rootsweb along with personal databases posted at Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project that included a large database of my own family information. I started using Rootsweb in 2000 and they gave us the capability to add, remove, and update our information at anytime and I used these options frequently to post correct and current data. Presently (2006) I am told by Ancestry that we cannot maintain our own databases, we cannot even remove them. If you find information at Ancestry with my name attached please search my website for current information, the databases posted at Ancestry contain inaccurate information. - Karen Rowe.