Evelyn C. Koleske

Evelyn C. Koleske, 98, of Rochester, died at 2:20 pm, Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at her home. She was born February 6, 1917 in Shipman, to Elbert and Florence Lipcamen Gebhardt. She married William “Red” Koleske on November 25, 1936 and he preceded her in death on November 18, 1953.

Survivors include two daughters, Charlene (Marion) Ontis of Springfield and Donna Nation of New City; one son, Norman Koleske of Rochester; six grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; eleven great great grandchildren; one brother, Robert Gebhardt of New Berlin and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, three sisters, Maridena Gebhardt, Wilma Snodgrass and Mildred Shockey and three brothers, Elbert J., Paul A. and Kenneth W. Gebhardt and son-in-law, Francis “Buck” Nation.

Evelyn was a member of Knox Presbyterian Church. She loved BINGO, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and bowling. She was a member of Sears Retirees Club and was an avid Chicago Cubs fan.
Since age seven, she resided in Springfield. She retired from Sears after nineteen and half years of service. Prior to that she worked for New Modern Machine Products, which was a bobby pin factory.

Visitation: 11 am – 1 pm, Monday, December 14, 2015 at Staab Funeral Home.

Funeral Service: 1 pm, Monday, December 14, 2015 at Staab Funeral Home with Pastor Paula Carmichael officiating. Burial will follow at Roselawn Memorial Park.

Memorial contributions may be made to Knox Presbyterian Church.