Katharina Redlin
September 17, 1917 - April 9, 2011

Katharina Redlin, age 93, of Summit, SD, passed away on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at the Golden Living Center in Lake Norden, SD. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rural Summit, SD. The Reverend Jason Schulz will officiate. Interment will be at a later date at Hope Lutheran Cemetery, Summit, SD. Darlis Heuer will be the organist. Visitation will be from 4:00-8:00 p.m., with a rosary at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, at the Wight, Comes & Sogn Funeral Chapel in Watertown. Visitation will continue on Thursday prior to services at the church.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Katharina's grandchildren: Susan, Tammy, Becky, Amanda, Jennifer, and Cristina; Alan Costa, Dave Compton, David J. Law, Art Handel; and the staff of Golden Living Center in Lake Norden.
Pallbearers will be Dr. E.L. Larson, DVM, Raymond Arneson, Paul Dumman, Robert Gustafson, Aaron Brouwer and Ryan Kistner.
Anna Katharina was born September 17, 1917 to Josef and Katharina (Muller) Spengler in Straubing, Germany. She was the second of eight children. She attended convent school run by the Ursuline Sisters and considered joining the convent. When she was 16, Katharina was sent to work on one of the largest farms in Bavaria for two years as part of the Nazi social work programs. When her time on the farm ended she moved to Saxony and worked at a drugstore owned by the farmer's son. She married and had a son, Gunter Alfred Grimm.
When her marriage ended she returned to Bavaria and worked as a cigarette girl in a large hotel in Munich. The war came and Katharina realized that the place she had chosen to live, near the railway station, would be one of the first targets bombed by the Allies. She moved further out from the city center. Four more times during the course of the war she moved and each time it seemed just ahead of the bombs.
On May 1, 1945 the Allies took Munich. During the occupation she made friends with American military wives. Their kindness and the stories they told of America convinced her to emigrate. With their help, Katharina placed advertisements seeking a sponsor in American newspapers and began a correspondence with Alfred Redlin who she married on March 16, 1953.
Alfred was a small grain and certified seed farmer in Grant County. Within a few years of their marriage, at Katharina's insistence, they started raising registered Hereford cattle. Katharina worked daily with the cattle and maintained the highest standards for their care. She was a tireless promoter of the Hereford breed and Redlin Herefords attained national prominence. The Redlins were instrumental in advancing the Hereford event at the Watertown Crop Show and each year consigned a string of their best bulls. Katharina was a member of the American Hereford Association and the South Dakota Hereford Association.
Katharina became a regular caller on "What's Up", a talk radio program on KWAT, Watertown. She had strong opinions and wasn't afraid to share them. It could have been the strong German brogue but people listened to her and she soon became a popular contributor to the program and its discussions. She often shared her reasons for coming to America and her love for the country she chose to make her home. Katharina became a United States citizen in 1986.
Anyone who visited the Redlin farm was guaranteed a warm welcome. Katharina always had a hearty lunch along with fresh homemade bread and sweet treats to offer company. She loved meeting people and loved to talk and visit.
Katharina continued to live on the farm after Alfred died in 1999 and worked daily with the cattle until her health became too frail. She moved to Golden Living Center, Lake Norden in the fall of 2006 and lived there until her death.
She was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Mazeppa Township.
Katharina is survived by one sister, Rosina (Reinhard) Zirngibl, Straubing, Germany; daughter, Kathryn (Robert) Gustafson, Brookings, SD; son, Frank (Brenda) Redlin, Summit, SD; daughter-in-law, Josephine (Gunter) Redlin, Santa Barbara, CA; six granddaughters; and five great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; six of her seven siblings; her husband, Alfred; her son, Gunter Redlin; and her grandson, Jeremy Redlin.
Arrangements by the Wight, Comes & Sogn Funeral Chapel ~ 1111 4th St. N.E. ~ Watertown, SD 57201 ~ 605-886-5876