Barbara Elaine Wentzel

Barbara E. Wentzel, age 66, went home to Jesus on Friday, October 14, 2011 at her home in Edmore, ND. Funeral Services for Barb will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at Living Word Free Lutheran Church, Edmore with Rev. Dale Finstrom officiating. Visitation will be held at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake on Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with a Prayer Service and Time of Remembrance at 8:00 p.m. Visitation on Wednesday will be at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. Interment and Services will be held at the Hedemarken Church and Cemetery, rural Carlisle, Minnesota on Friday, October 21, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. R. David Jore officiating. Casket Bearers will be Gayland Fronning, Charles Opsahl, Lee Fronning, Brian Krusniak, Reg Olson and Lyle Mattson. Honorary Bearers will be Deb Krusniak, Dana Dalbak, Kristofer Lein and Matthew Lein. Music will be provided by Special Delivery, Haglin Family, Pam Landsem and Lois Myrvik. Barbara Elaine Lein was born on September 24, 1945 in Fergus Falls, MN, the daughter of Kenneth and Helen (Haugrud) Lein. She grew up in the Carlisle community and Hedemarken Lutheran Church. She attended 8 years in country school and graduated from Fergus Falls High School in 1963. She worked as a legal secretary in the law offices of Rufer, Hefte, & Pemberton in Fergus Falls for 14 years. In the early ‘70’s, she enjoyed the fellowship of the Christian Coffeehouse in the old Carlisle school, where she met her future husband. On July 8th, 1978, Barbara married Pastor Craig Wentzel at Hedemarken and they served Lutheran parishes in Nunda, SD; Leeds, ND; and Edmore & Hampden, ND. She loved music and playing the piano, sewing, reading, crafts, and cats. She was brave to try new things. She was a good skier and ice-skater. After marriage, she worked as a home- maker, seamstress, and church secretary. Looking back, she felt that she had grace all of her life… ? The grace of God’s forgiveness and eternal life through her ,personal faith in Jesus Christ ? The grace of her employers and co-workers at the law office ? The grace He showed her in the family she came from, the family He gave her, and the friends He allowed her to have ? The grace of the kindness, love and generosity of the people in the congregations she was a part of ? And the grace He gave her in her children and her granddaughter. Barb will be greatly missed by her husband, Craig; her two daughters, Abby (Joshua) Nimerfroh of Minot, ND and Faith Wentzel of Park River, ND; her granddaughter, Grace; her father, Kenneth Lein of Carlisle, MN; her sister, Joyce (Verlyn) Dalbak of Springfield, MO and their daughters; her brother Keith (Linda) Lein of Fergus Falls, MN and their sons; her in-laws, Cindy (Lee) Fronning of Fergus Falls, MN and their family, Paul (Gabriela) Wentzel, and Kay Erickson, and her family; and her dear friends. She was preceded in death by her mother; her infant son, Josiah; her mother-in-law, Corinne Wentzel; and her father-in-law, Arthur Wentzel.