A memorial/social gathering for Willadeen (Willie) Knipschield will be held from 3:00pm to 6:00pm Wednesday, July 24, 2013 in the River Park Chapel, Macken Funeral  Home.  Willie requested to be cremated and to have a small graveside service for the immediate family only.  She died Saturday, July 20, 2013 after suffering from a long illness.

Willie (Gleesing) Knipschield was born in Pinewood, Minnesota on September 20, 1924.  Her family eventually moved to Madison, Wisconsin where she met and later married Wayne Knipschield on June 26, 1948.  They moved to Rochester, Minnesota shortly thereafter, where her husband had accepted a teaching and coaching position at Lourdes High School.

She and Wayne became the parents of Terry Knipschield and Bonnie (Knipschield) Smith.

Willie excelled in sports since her high school days, and during WWII, was offered a professional contract for a fast pitch softball team.  She loved golfing, volleyball and square dancing, but excelled at bowling and was inducted into the Rochester Bowling hall of fame in the year 2000.  She also worked part time for a while as a receptionist at Madonna Towers, and linotype operator for a local print shop.

Willie is survived by her husband Wayne; her children Terry (Mary) Knipschield and Bonnie (Larry) Smith; three grandchildren, Scott (Jennie) Biers; Matthew Knipschield, and Sarah Knipschield; three great grandchildren; Amaya, Alex and Amelia Biers; and a nephew, Robert Strander of Arizona.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Ted and Esther Gleesing and a sister Loretta (Gleesing) Strander.