Edith M. Redepenning

Edith M. Redepenning, age 87 of Ortonville, MN, formerly of Odessa, MN, passed away on December 20, 2024.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 28, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Odessa. Visitation will be on Saturday, December 28 from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Rev. Nathaniel Brown will officiate. Burial will be in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery.

Casket bearers will be her grandchildren: Mark Redepenning, Aaron Redepenning, Daniel Waletzko, Bethany Prososki, Austin Redepenning, and Cole Redepenning. Honorary bearers will be Edith’s coffee friends from Odessa, the staff and residents of Fairway View Neighborhoods, and her great-grandchildren: Elise, Adelina, Mya and Zekiel Redepenning; Isaac Redepenning, Brynlee and Lennon Waletzko; Zariah, Willow, and Isabelle Prosoki.

The service will be livestreamed, recorded, and viewable below this obituary.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be given to Trinity Lutheran Church in Odessa or Rice Hospice, Willmar, MN.

Edith Marie (Watson) Redepenning was born on June 4, 1937, in St. Joseph Township, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Thomas and Lea (Miller) Watson. Edith learned to be resilient at an early age with her father dying of polio when she was nine and her mother dying of cancer when she was sixteen. Edith remained intrigued her entire life knowing that her father was born in Calcutta, India, farmed in Canada, became a citizen of the United States after moving to Wisconsin in the early 1940’s, and then met her mother who was born in Arkansas.

Early cherished memories for Edith included growing up on a farm in Wisconsin until the age of nine, attending country school, as well as, schools in New Richmond, WI, and Stillwater, MN. Upon graduation from Staples High School in 1955, Edith worked at the St. Paul Telephone Company for one year and then attended Staples Teacher Training. She taught school at Odessa Agassiz Country School for two years. After the school closed, she met Dennis Redepenning, and they were married in 1959. To this union, four children were born. Along with being a homemaker, Edith proudly became a paraprofessional at the Odessa/Ortonville Schools where she worked for 25 years, from 1975-2000.

Edith definitely loved chocolate and enjoyed watching Wheel-of-Fortune, Andy Griffith, and Everyone Loves Raymond. She took great pride in her cat, Tucker. She adored her Odessa coffee friends and sincerely cherished her Fairway View family. Edith and her family will always be eternally grateful to the Fairway View staff and residents, Hospice staff, Dr. Susan Andersen and Ortonville Area Health Services, Pastor Nathaniel Brown, Odessa Trinity Lutheran Church, and the community for their compassion, kindness, and support throughout her blessed lifetime. 

Edith Redepenning is survived by her children: Shawn (Janel) Redepenning of Big Lake, MN; Denise (Duane) Waletzko of Sauk Centre, MN; David (Jeanne) Redepenning of Elbow Lake, MN; and Shad Redepenning of Odessa, MN; six grandchildren: Mark (Kristy) Redepenning of Hawley, MN; Aaron (Jenny) Redepenning of Rogers, MN; Daniel (Amanda) Waletzko of Auburn, WA; Bethany (Joshua) Prososki of Hawley, MN; Austin (Erin) Redepenning of Maple Grove, MN; and Cole Redepenning (Reedyn) of Gresham, OR; 10 great-grandchildren: Elise, Adelina, Mya, and Zekiel Redepenning; Isaac Redepenning; Brynlee and Lennon Waletzko; Zariah, Willow, and Isabelle Prososki; sisters-in-law: Joyce (Dan) Nelson and Charlotte Redepenning; and many nieces and nephews. Edith was preceded in death by her parents: Thomas and Lea Watson; her husband, Dennis on August 26, 2007; brother, Robert; brothers-in-law: Franklin and Floyd; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law: August and Elsbeth Redepenning.