Rudolf Denke

Rudolf Conrad was born on December 16, 1920, in Quickendorf, Germany the son of Rudolf and Emma (Wienroch) Denke. When Rudy turned three the Denke family moved to United States. The family lived in Manchester, Connecticut for a short period of time before moving to Brooklyn New York where Rudolf lived until he went into the service. Rudy served his country in the United States Army Air Force. In 1943, Rudolf was united in marriage to Carol Branum in Clovis, New Mexico. After their marriage he was sent overseas and was in charge of Interpreting Language for the Air Force. On one of his missions Rudy?s plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner and kept at Stalag Luft IV until the end of the war. During this time they forced the prisoners to march over 800 miles. He was freed by the Americans and hospitalized for a short time before returning home to his wife, Carol who at that time was living in Spring Valley, MN. Shortly after his return home the Denke family moved to New Jersey where Rudy worked as a salesman. They lived there until 1958 when they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota and then to Minnesota. The couple retired to San Antonio, TX where they took care of a mobile home park and in 2000 moved to Alexandria to be close to family. Rudolf died on Friday, August 14, 2009, at the VA Hospital in St. Cloud. He is survived by his wife, Carol; two sons: Rudy & wife, Pat of Alexandria, Dennis & wife, Cheryl of Wenatchee, WA; daughter, Marsha of Minnetonka, MN; ten grandchildren, fifteen great grandchildren and one brother, Jerry of Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents and granddaughter, Kristi. Memorial service was held on Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria with Rev. Mark Astrup officiating. Musical selections were by Jeff Carlson, Jerri Weinacht and Becky Worley. Military honors were by American Legion Post #87 and VFW Post #936. Burial was at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery Fort Ripley.