E. ""Laura"" Fredrich, age 92, of Sheridan, WY, formerly of Elgin, ND, passed away Sunday, June 16, 2013 at the Sheridan Manor in Sheridan, WY.

She was born December 13, 1920, in Elgin, ND to Jacob and Magdalena (Siewert) Weishaar. Laura, as she was known to close friends and relatives, was one of eight siblings. As a young woman, Laura worked in the shipyards near Portland, OR during World War II as a welder. She came back to her native North Dakota to marry the ""love of her life,"" Albert Fredrich on March 25, 1947. Together they farmed and ranched four and a half miles north of Elgin for over thirty years, when Albert died of a sudden illness. She continued to live on the farm for two more years. She then moved to Bismarck, where she enjoyed cooking and gardening and spending time with friends from church and the Senior Center. She maintained a household on her own until her late eighties when ill health would let her do it no longer. During these final years, she came to Sheridan to live with her family.

She is survived by her two daughters and one son-in-law, Elaine Roberts and Betty and Bruce Sprenger, all of Sheridan, Wyoming, a granddaughter, Samantha (Sprenger) and her husband, Paul Christensen of Bismarck, North Dakota, and two great grandchildren, Maverick and Tristan Roberts of Thornton, Colorado; her brother, Raymond Weishaar of Laurel, Montana, and sisters-in-law, Sophia Weishaar, Bismarck, North Dakota; and Vada (Weishaar) and her husband, Harry Kohn, North Bend, Washington.


Laura was preceded in death by her husband, Albert Fredrich, who died on May 23, 1978, her infant son, James Alan, in August 29, 1954, and her grandson, Brett Alan Roberts, in March 2007; 3 brothers, Richard, Alvin, and Clarence ""Aaron"" Weishaar, and 3 sisters, Ella Theurer, Martha Tubbs, and Violet (Monsma) Walker.


Visitation from 9:00am until 10:00am on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home with the funeral service at 10:00am from Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Elgin, ND. Pastor Bob Edwards will officiate with burial in Zion Lutheran Cemetery.


Serving as casketbearers are Melvin Will, Martin Ketterling, Tom Ketterling, Ron Weishaar, Bruce Sprenger, and Larry Weishaar.

Our mom came to live with us in Sheridan in the summer of 2009. We are very thankful for the many good memories this time together provided.

Laura was like most mothers who fortunately aren't called to lay down their life for their children, but nevertheless would give the ultimate sacrifice if necessary. Of course, she never expressed this, but as often is the case, actions spoke louder than words. One day in 1957, Laura, with imminent peril to her own life, prevented her young daughter from being run over by a tractor wheel.

As we were growing up on the farm, we remember her as being a quiet, no-nonsense hard worker. She was dedicated to being a farmer's wife and mother to her two daughters. She worked side by side with our father to raise us girls and run a successful farm.

She lost her husband when he was 58 years old, she only 57, far too soon. Mom picked up the pieces and successfully faced the challenges of the business of farming on her own for two more years.

She moved to Bismarck in 1980. My sister and I noticed that with fewer responsibilities, Mom became a more social person. We visited her a couple times each year to find her quite involved with her new church and senior center friends. She enjoyed babysitting for a few parents she had met through her church and seemed to relish the trust the children and their mothers placed in her.

Our dad was always our hero with Mom more the quiet supporter, but as we fondly look back, she had many heroic qualities. She contributed to her generation's war effort by working several years on the west coast as a ""Rosie the Riveter."" She was no slouch with many of the ""man's jobs"" on the farm and at the same time could cook a tasty meal for an Army, a job requirement for a farm wife.

Mom faced her declining health and advancing age with a quiet dignity. We never heard her complain or seek sympathy. The three of us, her daughters and son-in-law were her caregivers, and as health care professionals, we always approached her days from a rehabilitative standpoint. We could be heard, ""Take your medications appropriately, don't slack up on eating nutritiously, and don't sit in the chair all day. You don't want to lose your ability to walk. "" She even faced all that with quiet dignity, almost always complying, and that says a lot.

I guess we selfishly did not want to let her go. I do have to mention as a humorous side note, she did enjoy going to see her podiatrist after he told her, ""Laura, you look more like 72 than 92.""

Most importantly, Mom was a believer and God blessed her in many ways. She would often say, ""God willing, I take things one day at a time.""

submitted by the family of Laura Fredrich