Louise Elaine (Mickelsen) McIntyre

Louise E. McIntyre, 88, of Wolbach, Nebraska, died peacefully on Saturday, December 21, 2019, at Brookefield Park Skilled Nursing in St. Paul, Nebraska.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, December 28, at 10:30 a.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wolbach. Visitation will be Friday evening, December 27, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wolbach.  

Jacobsen-Greenway-Dietz Funeral Home of St. Paul is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Trinity Lutheran Church of Wolbach or the Wolbach Cemetery Association.

Louise Elaine Mickelsen McIntyre was born May 3, 1931, in rural Merrick County, north of Cushing, Nebraska. She was the daughter of Danish immigrants Marius K. and Marie K. Pedersen Mickelsen.

Louise briefly attended Sunshine School, a one-room schoolhouse north of Cushing, before receiving the bulk of her education in Cushing School. When her family moved in the spring of 1948 she transferred to St. Paul High School, was voted Miss St. Paul in the countywide Harvest of Harmony celebration that fall, and graduated the next spring, in 1949.

Louise completed her Normal School training at Nebraska State Teachers College in Kearney, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She taught at Gage Valley School, District 19, south of St. Paul, for the 1949/1950 school year. There were ten students in the one-room school that year, from Kindergarten through grade eight — and not a troublemaker in the group, their teacher always declared.

On May 28, 1950, when the school year had ended and the corn had been planted, Louise and Jack D. McIntyre of Wolbach were united in marriage at Cushing Lutheran Church. Louise and Jack farmed and ranched together with gusto for the next sixty-nine years.   

Proud and happy to be a “farm wife” Louise enthusiastically cooked the family’s meals from scratch, gardened and preserved, cared for barnyard animals, dropped everything to race to a nearby town for equipment parts, and organized family cattle drives on horseback.  In addition to her many daily and seasonal tasks, she was a full partner with Jack in growing their agricultural operations. All of this took place while she lovingly raised six children over a period of thirty-six years.    

Never one to waste a minute, Louise made time to be a founding member of two arts organizations — The Paint Daubers art club and Prairie Fiber Weavers and Spinners Guild — and to win many county and state ribbons (including Best of County) for her weavings, quilts, knitted items, paintings, and flower arrangements. Louise’s early love of teaching continued throughout her life; she taught her four daughters everything she knew about homemaking, which was a lot, and was a 4-H leader for forty years and a Sunday school teacher for many years. A lifelong learner, she taught herself and others many new skills and uncovered hidden talents, encouraging a love of learning in those she mentored. A devoted member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Wolbach for her entire adult life, Louise also served the congregation as council member and in many other capacities, including using her weaving skills and thousands of yards of yarn to create two sets of hand-woven paraments for the church altar, lectern, and pulpit, as well as countless baptismal napkins.

Between 1986 and 2013 Louise was known throughout Nebraska as “Mother Goose,” entertaining and educating a variety of audiences with puppetry, chalk talks, and nursery rhymes. The presentations were tailored to each specific audience — children and adults  in churches, schools, and nursing homes, and at civic events — and centered on “Manners, Morals, and Motivation.”

In celebration of their fortieth wedding anniversary in 1990, Louise and Jack toured Europe visiting England, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and — the highlight of their trip — Denmark, the first home of Louise’s parents and Jack’s mother. They became acquainted with Danish family members and visited E Bindstouw, the schoolhouse museum in Lysgaard, Denmark, that honors Louise’s spunky great-grandmother, Marie Jensen Pedersen.

Louise will be deeply missed by her husband, Jack; her six children and their spouses, Larry and Debbie McIntyre of Wolbach; Connie McIntyre and Mike Reed of Niwot, Colorado; Kathy and David Joynt of Doniphan, Nebraska; Julie and Rollie Rother of Wayne, Nebraska; Cindy and Mike Rother of Wolbach; and Jim and Michelle McIntyre of Lovettsville, Virginia; her twenty-four grandchildren; her thirty great-grandchildren; her sisters Anne Meyer of Hastings, Helen Meyer of Colorado, June Wadas of Colorado, and Dorothy (and Larry) Jones of Omaha; her sisters-in-law Geraldine Mickelsen Hodges of Wyoming, Mary McIntyre of St. Paul, and Evelyn McIntyre of Springfield, Nebraska; and a multitude of nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; great-granddaughter Madison Paige Frey; sisters Eva Larsen, Elda Miller, Mary Christensen, Joy Glines, and Ada Pedersen; brothers Miner, Einer, Earl (Bud), and Dennis (age one week); sisters-in-law Pearl Mickelsen, Alyce Thayer Mickelsen, Lola Smith Mickelsen, Lola Haggstrom Mickelsen, Lola Bryer, Frances Panowicz, Bonnie McIntyre, Densmer McIntyre, and Minnie Dubas; and brothers-in-law Andy Larsen, Chester Miller, Elmer Christensen, Harold Glines, Don Pedersen, Don Goering, Darwin Meyer, Ray Meyer, Ray Wadas, Glenn McIntyre, Emmert McIntyre (age three years), Glen Bryer, Marion Panowicz, Oren McIntyre, Milo Bernard McIntyre, Ted McIntyre, and Leo Dubas.

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.jacobsengreenway.com

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