IRENE LOUISE (KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(As Of May 6, 2009)
1. Preceded in Death by
Parents
Father – Henry John Kuckkan, Sr.
Died of prostrate cancer in his home at 1419 Prospect Street, Watertown Wisconsin, on July 3, 1983
Mother – Frances Erna Bertha (Koplin) Kuckkan
Died on September 24, 2002, as a result of a stroke on June 5, 2001. Passed away at Marquardt Manor, Watertown, Wisconsin
Brother – Henry John Kuckkan, Jr.
He was born September 23, 1935, and died March 31, 1942 – from weakness of his heart as a result of rheumatic fever – at 911 North Fourth Street, Watertown, Wisconsin.
Sister – Beatrice Ann (Kuckkan) Nehls
She was born April 27, 1931, and died as a result of a massive hemorrhage October 8, 2005, at Watertown Memorial Hospital, Watertown, Wisconsin.
Two Brothers-in-law
Artie Funair died in Cathedral City, California
Carl Kellberg died in Seattle, Washington
One Grandchild
Four Great-Grandchildren
2. Survived by
Husband, Pastor/Missionary Richard William Mueller
Six Children with their Spouses
Deborah (Glen) Wilson
Richard (Wanda Sterwald) Mueller
Timothy (Susan Brandt) Mueller
Susan (James) Weiland
Stephanie (Jeffrey) Heitsch
Steven (Melody Karas) Mueller
Two Sisters
Doloris Frances Funair of Cathedral City, California
Janet Lee (David) DeVries of Riverside, California
One Sister-in-law
Helen Louise (Mueller) Kellberg of Renton, Washington
Nineteen Grandchildren
Fifteen Great-Grandchildren
Sisters’ Families
Beatrice (Kuckkan) Nehls
Husband – Donald Nehls
Son – Michael Nehls
Daughter – Patricia (Stan) Golden
Granddaughters – Aubrey, Leslie, Meaghan Rowland, Amy
Grandson – Russell
Doloris “Lotty” (Kuckkan) Funair
Daughter – Janet Kaye (Steven) Carrier
Granddaughter – Lacey Hadassah Frazier
Janet Lee (Kuckkan) DeVries
Husband – David DeVries
Son – Kevin (Deborah)
Granddaughters – Candice and Summer
Son – Michael (Yolanda)
Grandson – Michael
Irene Louise Mueller (nee Kuckkan) was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, on April 17, 1930, to Henry John Kuckkan and Frances Erna Bertha (nee Koplin) Kuckkan. She was made a child of God and an heir of eternal salvation through Holy Baptism on May 14, 1930 at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown, Wisconsin. On April 2, 1944, she confirmed her faith in the Triune God at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown, Wisconsin. She graduated from St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Parochial School in 1944 and Northwestern Preparatory School in Watertown, Wisconsin, in June, 1948. When she graduated from Northwestern Preparatory School, she attended Dr. Martin Luther College and studied to be a teacher.
She studied one year and at the end of the year was asked by President Schweppe to become an emergency teacher because there was a severe shortage of teachers at that time. She was called to St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to teach fifty-six fourth graders. Some of them still correspond with her. She also taught school (forty first-graders) at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran School in Jefferson, Wisconsin, and thirty first-graders at Trinity Lutheran School in Freistadt, Wisconsin. One of her “little” first graders is the mother of the husband of one of our granddaughters. Another “little” first grader is the President of the Western Wisconsin District. “The Lord works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.”
For two years she served as the personal secretary to the President of Health Spot Shoe Company in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
She was united in marriage to Richard William Mueller on June 7, 1953. After her husband’s graduation from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin, her husband was ordained and installed as a pastor in Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Crivitz, Wisconsin.
In 1956 her husband was called to serve as missionary in Central Africa. He served in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) from 1957 to 1962 and again in 1965 to 1972. He also served in Nyasaland (Malawi) from 1962 to 1965. They and three of their children returned to the States in 1972. The older three were attending our Lutheran Wisconsin Synod Preparatory Schools in the United States.
After their return to the United States, Irene’s husband served as a teacher at Lakeside Lutheran High School for two years. He then served mission congregations in Crystal Lake and Elgin, Illinois, Waunakee, Wisconsin, and Weslaco, Texas. He retired from the full-time pastoral ministry in June of 1996. He and Irene moved to Medford, Wisconsin where their son, Timothy, was pastor. While at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Medford, Wisconsin and St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown, Wisconsin, with her husband she visited sick and shut-ins as he brought them the Lord’s Supper together with devotions. Their son, Timothy, had moved to Watertown because he had accepted the Divine Call to establish and supervise the Watertown Recreational and Outreach Center for youth.
All of her life she was a homemaker, devoting her life to her Lord, to her husband, and to her children. She and her husband are living out their remaining years in Watertown, Wisconsin, where they first met in 1944.
Notes: Accepted the Divine Call to serve Abiding Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Weslaco, Texas, on June 24, 1993
Settlement date for Condo in Mission, Texas, on April 19, 1994
Received check for Condo in Mission, Texas, on October 5, 1999
Irene’s husband retired from the full-time pastoral ministry on June 16, 1996 – Weslaco, Texas
Moved from Medford, Wisconsin, to 1520 Lakeside Terrace, Watertown, Wisconsin, on August 27, 2003