From the July 31, 2009 edition of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald

HOLY CROSS, Iowa -- Margaret E. Ellerbach, 86, of Guttenberg, formerly of Holy Cross, died Wednesday, July 29, 2009, at the Guttenberg Municipal Hospital.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Holy Cross, Iowa, with the Rev. Raymond Burkle officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. today at Kramer Funeral Home, Holy Cross, Iowa, where there will be a parish scripture service at 6 p.m.

She was born on Sept. 6, 1922, in Rickardsville, daughter of Louis and Margaret (Hess) Freiburger. She married Bernard A. Ellerbach on Nov. 23, 1943, in Rickardsville.

Together, they farmed near Holy Cross until retiring in 1979.

Margaret enjoyed raising her family, crafts, quilting, gardening and cooking. She made many friends while enjoying bingo and other social activities. Margaret delighted in watching her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up.

Surviving are her husband, Bernard; seven children, Dale, Kenneth (Bea) and James (Karen) Ellerbach, all of Holy Cross, Donna (John) Wagner, of Luxemburg, Shirley (Van) Waggoner, of Asbury, Judy (Steve) Brimeyer, of Sherrill, and Randy, of Guttenberg; 14 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Modesta Koeperich, of Farley, and Luella (Donald) Cogan, of Dubuque; a sister-in-law, Alberta Freiburger, of St. Catherine; and a brother-in-law, Bob Weydert, of New Mexico.

She was preceded in death by a son, David, in 1978; her parents; three brothers, Emmett, Ervin and Louis Freiburger; three sisters, Irene Adams, Rose Mary Ellerbach and Rita Duster-Weydert; and brothers- and sisters-in-law, Larry Adams, Francis Ellerbach, Ed Duster, Francis Koeperich, Mildred Freiburger and Marie Freiburger.