Mildred M. Scharnberg, 99, Spencer
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Memorial services for Millie M. Scharnberg will be held from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at the Warner Funeral Home in Everly. Private family graveside services will be held at the Lone Tree Cemetery near Everly. Warner Funeral Home is assisting with the arrangements.
Mildred Margaret (Millie) Scharnberg passed away on Sunday, March 19, 2023, at St. Luke Lutheran Home, her residence since 2018. She was 99 years old.
Millie was born near Cornell on Aug. 31, 1923 to Jennie (French) and Walter Struve. Her family moved to several farms during her childhood in the Rossie/Royal/Linn Grove area. She attended school in Rossie and Royal, graduating from Rossie High School in 1941. Millie continued her education by attending and graduating from Fort Dodge Beauty Academy.
Millie married Robert (Bob) Scharnberg on June 19, 1942. The two met in 1938 while enjoying a pastime so many young couples did back then, dancing to Big Band music. Many letters were exchanged while Bob attended Iowa State. Pearl Harbor accelerated Bob’s education and their courtship. Bob enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the Naval Supply Depot in Scotia, N.Y. After finishing her training at the beauty academy, Millie joined him there and followed him to Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Va. After that Bob was shipped overseas to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands and Guam, and Millie returned home. She lived with relatives and gave birth to her first child, Gary.
Bob returned stateside in 1945 to reunite with his wife and meet his 20 month-old son. The young family lived in Muscatine for five years, eventually returning to the Scharnberg farm near Everly. There they raised their family, living a life full of friends, dancing, bus tours, bridge parties, church activities and family events.
Bob and Millie built their dream house in Spencer in 1983. Bob passed away in 2008. With the generous help of family, friends and neighbors, Millie stayed in her home until 2018.
Besides her husband, Millie was preceded in death by her siblings: Loyd Struve and Arlene Galbraith; her daughter, Jill Foss; an infant son, Jack; daughters-in-law, Denise and Sheila Scharnberg; and grandson, Ben Scharnberg.
She is survived by her sons: Gary, Steve (Suzy) and Chuck Scharnberg; daughter, Jan Goel (Carl); her grandchildren: Michael Scharnberg, Mark (Tess) Foss, Amelia (Lee) Kibbie, Nora (Adam) Hachmeister, Graham (Katie) Carl, Caitlin, Samantha and Kyle Scharnberg; and 11 great-grandchildren; all of whom will miss her words of love and her delicious pecan rolls.
