Sophie Schuenemann (nee Wolf), age 90, a resident of West Bend, and formerly Manitowoc, entered Heaven to be with her Lord and Savior on Thursday, January 12, 2023.
Sophie was born on January 7, 1933, and was the youngest daughter of Eduard and Julianna Wolf (nee Fandrich) of Germany. She was confirmed in Landshut, Germany on March 23, 1947. She came to the United States on April 1, 1952. On June 26, 1954, she married Guenter Schuenemann, also from Germany, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Green Valley (near Cecil), WI. He preceded her in death on October 5, 2008. On April 14, 1959, she became a United States citizen, with the official ceremony in Sheboygan, WI.
Sophie and her husband, Guenter lived most of their lives in Manitowoc County. She believed in the American dream that if you worked hard, you could succeed. Sophie worked many part time jobs while raising her family to support her family. She was thankful for any and all opportunities she was given to work: Kaaps Chocolate Shop in Green Bay, Mirro and Paragon in Two Rivers, and the following in Manitowoc: The Elbow Room, the former Copp’s Department Store (children’s clothing department), Sheraton Hotel – now the Holiday Inn, the Maritime Inn – now the Baymont, the former Shulander Flower Shop, Copp’s Grocery Store (floral department) and the Flower Gallery.
Sophie loved flowers, and her yard had many flower beds, along with a huge vegetable garden and fruit trees. During her retirement years, she volunteered at the Manitowoc Convention and Visitors Center. One of her favorite volunteer opportunities was greeting vacationers as they got off the Badger Ferry, providing them with brochures about Manitowoc and giving directions on how to get to various sites of interest.
In her lifetime, she was very talented with handicrafts and made many knitted and crocheted doilies, baby sweaters and caps, and wove beautiful baskets – all of which she took to various craft fairs in the area. At the Manitowoc Senior Center, she learned to weave placemats and rugs on their looms. She was also known for her delicious pinwheel cookies, poppy seed bread, apfel kuchen (apple cake), and beef roulade (beef roll-ups).
Survivors include Sophie’s three children, Susan (Curtis) Jahn, Jackson; Walter (Lynn) Schuenemann, Madison; and Richard (Susan) Schuenemann, Shalimar, FL; five grandchildren, Julie Jahn, Timothy Jahn, Erica (Ben) Cichon, Erin (Michael) Grunewald, and Christy (William) Cross; four great grandchildren, Landen, Peyton, Britten and Nolan; also nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Eduard and Julianna; husband, Guenter; three sisters and their husbands, Olga (Johann) Fandrich, Martha (Franz) Pirdszun, and Hulda (Gerhardt) Wenzlow; two nephews, Eduard (Edeltraud) Fandrich and Reinhold Fandrich; two sisters-in-law, Helga Schuenemann and Hedwig (Schuenemann) Campe; and brother-in-law, Werner Schuenemann.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 21, 2023 at Sophie’s home church of Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church, 916 Pine Street, Manitowoc. Rev. Matt Zimpelmann will officiate with burial to follow at Evergreen Cemetery, Manitowoc. A luncheon for family and friends will then be held at the Harrigan Parkside Gathering Center, located on the south property of the Harrigan Parkside Funeral Home. The family will greet relatives and friends at Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church on Saturday from 10 a.m. until the time of the funeral service at 11 a.m. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harriganparksidefuneralhome.com
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorials in Sophie’s name.
The Harrigan Parkside Funeral Home and Crematory, North 11th and St. Clair streets, Manitowoc is assisting the family with funeral arrangements.
