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Anna Martha <I>Rott</I> Stoehr

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Anna Martha Rott Stoehr

Birth
Shelby County, Iowa, USA
Death
20 Dec 2014 (aged 114)
Plainview, Wabasha County, Minnesota, USA
Burial
Potsdam, Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Anna Stoehr, 114, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014, at Green Prairie Place in Plainview.

Anna Martha Stoehr was born to Carl and Bertha (Borkowski) Rott near Manning, Shelby County, Iowa, on Oct. 15, 1900. In 1901, her family moved to a farm near Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., then returned to the Manning area in 1903. In 1908, they moved to a farm near Wessington Springs, S.D., where she completed elementary school and attended a one-year confirmation class at nearby Lane.

In 1919, her family moved again, to a large farm near Ridgeway (Winona) Minnesota. Here she often did domestic work for neighbors, assisting at times of birth and death. Her family moved to a farm near Elgin in 1927. On May 9, 1928, she married Ernest Stoehr at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Potsdam. She and Ernest farmed near Ridgeway until 1936, when they moved to a farm near Potsdam (Elgin).

Following her husband's death in 1998, she lived alone on the farm until April 2013, when she moved to an apartment at Green Prairie Place, Plainview, residing there until her death.

She is survived by her son, Harlan (Marlene) Stoehr of Shoreview; daughters, Lois Neighbors of Emmetsburg, Iowa, and Dorothy (John) Wood of Rochester; daughter-in-law, Beverly Stoehr of Elgin; 12 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren; family and friends worldwide, and two apple trees she planted at 105.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son, Marvin, daughter, Carolyn, son-in-law, Robert Neighbors, and two grandchildren.

Blessed with a remarkable memory and a large capacity for work, she could recall birth, marriage, death and other meaningful dates of family, friends and acquaintances if asked, and enjoyed baking bread, needlework, gardening and reading. She was yet a subscriber to the Wessington Springs, True Dakotan, which she considered her hometown newspaper.

Funeral service will be held Saturday, Dec. 27, at 11 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Potsdam, with the Rev. John Fuchs and Rev. Dale Kohrs officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Visitation will be Friday, Dec. 26, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Schad & Zabel Funeral Home in Plainview, and Saturday one hour prior to the service at the church.

Anna requested no flowers, memorials preferred to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Potsdam, Green Prairie Place in Plainview or to the donors choice.

Obituary and photo from Schad & Zabel Funeral Home.


Anna Stoehr became an Internet celebrity at age 113, when she owned up to fibbing on her Facebook account so she could join the social network. It was an unpredictable turn of events for Stoehr, who was born before the Wright brothers took their historic first flight. She died Sunday at age 114.

"Anna lived alone on her farm in Potsdam, MN until she was 112," local KARE 11 TV reports. "She and her husband Ernest had farmed together. He passed away in 1998 at the age of 97."

Facebook, whose software could not (and still cannot) account for a birth date before the year 1905, "sent her a bouquet of 114 flowers for her most recent birthday," the AP reports.

Stoehr's story spread after her son Harlan, 85, went to a Verizon store to buy a phone for his mother. When she had trouble joining Facebook, she wrote the company a letter that included the line, "I'm still here."

Harlan Stoehr says his mother died in her sleep Sunday morning.

The social network wasn't the only way Stoehr embraced technology late in life. When KARE 11 spoke to her before her birthday in October, she was using an iPad to hold video chats — in German — with a friend.

"That's an aspect of my mom," Harlan told KARE in October. "She's been curious about everything all her life and continues to be curious about it."

Anna Stoehr, 114, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014, at Green Prairie Place in Plainview.

Anna Martha Stoehr was born to Carl and Bertha (Borkowski) Rott near Manning, Shelby County, Iowa, on Oct. 15, 1900. In 1901, her family moved to a farm near Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., then returned to the Manning area in 1903. In 1908, they moved to a farm near Wessington Springs, S.D., where she completed elementary school and attended a one-year confirmation class at nearby Lane.

In 1919, her family moved again, to a large farm near Ridgeway (Winona) Minnesota. Here she often did domestic work for neighbors, assisting at times of birth and death. Her family moved to a farm near Elgin in 1927. On May 9, 1928, she married Ernest Stoehr at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Potsdam. She and Ernest farmed near Ridgeway until 1936, when they moved to a farm near Potsdam (Elgin).

Following her husband's death in 1998, she lived alone on the farm until April 2013, when she moved to an apartment at Green Prairie Place, Plainview, residing there until her death.

She is survived by her son, Harlan (Marlene) Stoehr of Shoreview; daughters, Lois Neighbors of Emmetsburg, Iowa, and Dorothy (John) Wood of Rochester; daughter-in-law, Beverly Stoehr of Elgin; 12 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren; family and friends worldwide, and two apple trees she planted at 105.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son, Marvin, daughter, Carolyn, son-in-law, Robert Neighbors, and two grandchildren.

Blessed with a remarkable memory and a large capacity for work, she could recall birth, marriage, death and other meaningful dates of family, friends and acquaintances if asked, and enjoyed baking bread, needlework, gardening and reading. She was yet a subscriber to the Wessington Springs, True Dakotan, which she considered her hometown newspaper.

Funeral service will be held Saturday, Dec. 27, at 11 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Potsdam, with the Rev. John Fuchs and Rev. Dale Kohrs officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Visitation will be Friday, Dec. 26, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Schad & Zabel Funeral Home in Plainview, and Saturday one hour prior to the service at the church.

Anna requested no flowers, memorials preferred to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Potsdam, Green Prairie Place in Plainview or to the donors choice.

Obituary and photo from Schad & Zabel Funeral Home.


Anna Stoehr became an Internet celebrity at age 113, when she owned up to fibbing on her Facebook account so she could join the social network. It was an unpredictable turn of events for Stoehr, who was born before the Wright brothers took their historic first flight. She died Sunday at age 114.

"Anna lived alone on her farm in Potsdam, MN until she was 112," local KARE 11 TV reports. "She and her husband Ernest had farmed together. He passed away in 1998 at the age of 97."

Facebook, whose software could not (and still cannot) account for a birth date before the year 1905, "sent her a bouquet of 114 flowers for her most recent birthday," the AP reports.

Stoehr's story spread after her son Harlan, 85, went to a Verizon store to buy a phone for his mother. When she had trouble joining Facebook, she wrote the company a letter that included the line, "I'm still here."

Harlan Stoehr says his mother died in her sleep Sunday morning.

The social network wasn't the only way Stoehr embraced technology late in life. When KARE 11 spoke to her before her birthday in October, she was using an iPad to hold video chats — in German — with a friend.

"That's an aspect of my mom," Harlan told KARE in October. "She's been curious about everything all her life and continues to be curious about it."



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