Paul Kretsch, 68, of New Ulm died Wednesday, August 23, 2006 at his home.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, August 28, 2006 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in New Ulm with burial in the New Ulm Catholic Cemetery. Full military honors will be conducted at the cemetery by the New Ulm Veteran's Organizations.
Visitation will be 3 - 8 p.m. Sunday and from 7:30 - 10 a.m. Monday at the Minnesota Valley Funeral Home in New Ulm. The St. John's C.O.F. will pray the rosary at 6 p.m. and there will be a parish prayer service at 7 p.m. both Sunday at the funeral home.
Paul is survived by his wife, Janice Kretsch of New Ulm; daughters and sons-in-law, Amy and Terry Zinniel, Darcy and Scott Schmidt all of New Ulm; five grandchildren, Nikeshia and Kelsey Koch, Alexa and Jonathan Zinniel, and Morgan Schmidt all of New Ulm; sister and brother-in-law, Monica and Randy Wenninger of New Ulm; brother and sister-in-law, Ernest and Theresia Kretsch of New Ulm; and his twin brother and sister-in-law, Patrick and Colleen Kretsch of New Ulm. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Paul Roman Kretsch was born on March 25, 1938 in New Ulm to Anton and Eleanor (Haala) Kretsch. He graduated from New Ulm Public High School in 1956. Paul spent several years working on the farm with his dad before working at American Artstone. In 1961 he joined the U.S. Army and spent 18 months in France and 1 month of school in Germany, which he said felt like going home. After his discharge he returned to American Artstone.
On October 17, 1964 he was united in marriage to Janice Ries at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm. Paul sold insurance for the C.O.F. for a time before starting to work for Kraft Foods in 1970 and remained there until his retirement in 1996. Paul was very active in the community. He played softball for many years and later managed a winning team for ten years. He was a member of the St. John's Court, # 698 Catholic Order of Foresters and in 1966 became the Chief Ranger and held that office for several years. He belonged to the American Legion Post # 132, V.F.W. Post # 1648, Junior Pioneers, Brown County Historical Society and was president of the German - Bohemian Heritage Society from 1988 - 2004 and a charter board member since 1984. In 1990 he formed the German - Bohemian Heritage Singers and was their leader until his illness in January of this year. He was the leading force in erecting the German-Bohemian Monument in German Park and designed the fence that surrounds it. He was very instrumental in starting the concerts and picnics in German Park and scheduled these events for many years. At the time of his death he was working on a book translating the German-Bohemian dialect into English. Paul will be dearly missed by his family and friends.
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