Wanda Lydia Hattie Mathilda Moeller Dieckman, a sixty-one-year resident of Monroe, Wisconsin, died Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 3:30 A.M. surrounded by her loved ones. She was a member of the Greatest Generation. She was born to Max and Emma Moeller on September 28, 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression. Wanda was born on the Lauterbach Farm which later became O’Hare Field. During the Depression, many farmers often rented ground. By 1934, the Moellers moved to the fifth farm which was smaller and located in South Elgin, IL. Wanda’s mother had Wanda and her brother (Max, Jr.) selling vegetables from their little red wagon by the time they were five and six years of age. In March of 1936, they purchased a farm on Highway 20 which was the most travelled road until the Tollway 90 was built in 1955. Wanda learned a lot from her mother and eventually would enjoy working in her own garden. After Pearl Harbor, Lou, her oldest sister worked at Elgin Watch Factory painting hazardous material on timers for bombs. The second sister got married and her mother sewed parachutes. Wanda was left to cook meals for the five brothers and father. She graduated in 1947 and wanted to become a teacher but only went for one semester because of finances. She met John Dieckman at St. John’s Lutheran Church. John came from a family of twelve and her family of nine. They had many things in common. They loved the Lord Jesus, loved children (but only had two children because of thyroid issues), loved music, and valued education. John knew Wanda was an excellent seamstress, great cook, and hard worker. There would be many bumps along the road, but the Lord helped them through those hard times. In 1963, they moved to Monroe, Wisconsin to start a dairy farm. No one would neighbor with them. When the state and the city of Monroe built the bypass, it cut our farm in half and caused hardships. John bought an adjacent farm and cows. Jimmy Carter became president and interest rates increased to 26% which caused them to lose both farms to bankruptcy. God was with them. A bachelor dairy farmer gave them money to buy eight acres. Wanda went job hunting at fifty-five years of age. She could only get part-time jobs in which she worked three at one time. She was able to pay the bachelor back. She had three other goals: travel to Washington state to visit grandchildren, playing piano, and participating in the Cheese Day Parade. John Mark moved his family to Seattle, Washington to work at the Boeing plant. He had two children, Ann Marie and Mark John. John and Wanda made a number of trips to visit the grandchildren and the grandchildren made summer trips to the farm to visit their grandparents. Wanda learned how to play the piano when she was about seventy-five years old! When LaVonne married Leslie Wundrow in 1991, Noris Walley, a livestock hauler, had beautiful Belgium draft horses. Since 1992, we have been participants in the Cheese Day Parades wearing dirndls and Swiss black jackets with Edelweiss embroidered by mom. God answered prayers again. Grandson Matthew learned how to play the concertina and now entertains at the Essen Haus in Madison, Wisconsin and the Dorf Haus in Roxbury, Wisconsin. It looks like the next generation, Elsie and Walter (Matthew and Christina’s children) love music too. Mom was blessed to know the great-grandchildren before she went home to be with Jesus.
She is survived by a daughter, LaVonne (Leslie) Wundrow of Poplar Grove, IL; a son, John Mark (Cheri) Dieckman of Allyn, WA; grandchildren, Ann Marie Dieckman of San Antonio, TX, Mark John Dieckman of Monroe, Matthew (Christine) Wundrow of Poplar Grove, IL; two great grandchildren, Elsie and Walter Wundrow; a brother, Richard (Jan) Moeller of Elgin, IL; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, John, on Oct. 21, 2009; and siblings, Arnold, Hans, Louise, Julie, Max Jr., Elmer, and Leonard.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 31, 2025, at 12:00 p.m., at the Triune Lutheran Church, Sharon, WI, with Pastor Dale Blanchard officiating. Interment will follow in Blaine Cemetery, Blaine, IL. Visitation will be held at on Thursday, January 30, from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. at the NEWCOMER FUNERAL HOME, Monroe, and at the church on Friday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of services. Memorials are suggested in Wanda’s name to Triune Lutheran Church, N1584 County Road K, Sharon, WI 53585. Condolences may be shared at www.newcomerfuneralhome.net
