Ona M. Wheaton, 104, of Watertown passed away Sunday, April 8, 2012 at the Golden Living Center.

Funeral services will be 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Watertown.


Interment will be at Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon, South Dakota on April 16, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.



Pallbearers will be Paul Mertz, Adam Mertz, Chris Mertz, Mike Fuerstenau, Tim Fuerstenau and David Klatt.



Honorary Pallbearers will be Prairie Lakes Hospice and Golden Living Center staff.



Ona M. Wheaton was born on May 1, 1907 to Ole and Eda (Hoffman) Solberg at Woonsocket, SD and baptized into the Christian faith. She attended country school in the area. Ona graduated from high school at Lane, SD and then graduated from Madison State Teachers College in Madison, SD and taught elementary school for 58 years. She taught at several rural schools in the Meadow, SD area and at Lemmon Elementary School. She married Arthur Wheaton and the couple had a daughter, Ardel. After retiring in 1972, she moved to Watertown where she taught at the Trinity Lutheran Church Parochial School for 12 years. She was an advocate of education in general and Christian education in particular and confessed her faith in Jesus. After a brief illness in 2006 she moved to Golden Living Center where she resided until her death.



Ona was active in her church and a member of Trinity Ladies Aid.



She enjoyed reading and exercising and was alert and active until a week before her death.



Survivors include her sisters, Ruth Bradshaw of El Cajon, CA and Velva Patterson of San Diego, CA; her brother, Marvin Solberg of Aneta, ND; and numerous nieces and nephews.



She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; daughter, Ardel; sisters, Ella, Lydia; brothers, Frank, Glen and Almer.