Kenneth W. Hillesheim, 77, of Sleepy Eye, died Thursday, April 12, 2001, at his home.
Services are 10:30 a.m. Monday, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Sleepy Eye with burial in the church cemetery with military rites by the Sleepy Eye Honor Guard.
Visitation is 4:30-8 p.m. Sunday and 7:30-9:30 a.m. Monday at the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. There will be a parish prayer service at 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
He is survived by his wife, Gertrude (Fischer) Hillesheim of Sleepy Eye; children and their spouses, Barbara and Timothy Kleiter of St. Paul; Carol Hillesheim of Burnsville; Michael and Marian Hillesheim of Maple Grove; Patrick Hillesheim of Sleepy Eye; Marilyn and Michael Schauman of Sleepy Eye; Joanna and Jeff Schmid of Sleepy Eye; Kenwyn and Rich Evers of Olivia; Maggie and Jim Schroepfer of Sleepy Eye; Robert and Dana Hillesheim of Buffalo Lake; 15 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters and their spouses, Leon Braulick of Searles, Marion and Art Sellner of Sleepy Eye, Sylvester and Mary Hillesheim of Springfield, Meinrad Hillesheim of Sleepy Eye; sisters-in-law, Sophie Kral of Sleepy Eye, Irene Hillesheim of Sleepy Eye; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Hedwig Guggisberg, Martha Neyers and Rosella Ludewig; brothers, Charles Hillesheim, Clarence Hillesheim, Arnold Hillesheim and Raymond Hillesheim.
He was born Nov. 18, 1923, in Stark Township, Brown County, to Meinrad and Bertha (Wiltscheck) Hillesheim, Sr. He attended Qualtrap School District 425 and St. Mary's School in Sleepy Eye. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 and served two years in Kiyota, Japan, as an MP and cook after the bombing of Hiroshima. He married Gertrude Fischer on Nov. 18, 1947, at the Church of the Japanese Martyrs in Leavenworth. They lived in the Leavenworth area for several years and moved to Sleepy Eye in 1960. He started working as a carpenter and masonry worker in 1947 for his brother Clarence Hillesheim, later in 1965 for Edwin Weiss and then for the Pietrus Foods Co. in 1973 until his retirement. He was a member of the St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sleepy Eye, Knights of Columbus and Veterans of Foreign War.
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