Hildred B. Pleggenkuhle, 98, of West Union and formerly of Hawkeye, died Friday, February 16, 2018, at Traditions of West Union.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 12:00 p.m. Sunday, July 1, 2018, at the United Methodist Church in Hawkeye with Mona Christie, Lay Servant and Rev. Dayna Winke officiating. Lunch and fellowship will continue after the service at the Hawkeye Community Hall. Private family inurnment will be held at the West Union Cemetery. Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Hawkeye is assisting the family.

Hildred Bernice, daughter of Floyd and Gladys (Swale) Whitcher was born November 5, 1919, on a farm east of West Union. She received her early education in the Country Schools near West Union and graduated from West Union High School in 1937. Hildred continued her education at Upper Iowa University in Fayette where she received her Teaching Certificate. She taught in the country schools near Eldorado and Windsor Township. On March 5, 1943, she was united in marriage with Clarence Pleggenkuhle in West Union. The couple farmed for fifty years in the Hawkeye area. She was an active farm wife and was a member of the Bethel Farmerettes. Hildred and her sister, Virgie Bruening participated in the moving of the Whitcher Country Schoolhouse to the Fayette County Fairgrounds and helped with programming during the fair. Hildred loved picnics, painting, singing, fishing, playing cards, square dancing and socializing with family and friends. She and Clarence and their four boys spent many days fishing in Minnesota and at the Mississippi River and picnicking at Gouldsburg Park. She and Clarence also loved the time they spent wintering in Arizona. Her grandchildren adored her. She taught her granddaughters (and grandsons) how to make noodles and her grandsons how to be “helpful” in the kitchen and all of her children and grandchildren how to love and respect others.

Hildred is survived by her four sons, Daryl (Susan) Pleggnenkuhle of Papillion, Nebraska, Duane (Olivia) Pleggenkuhle, Ronald (Lynn) Pleggenkuhle, and Gene (Janice) Pleggenkuhle all of Hawkeye; eleven grandchildren; twenty-four great-grandchildren; and several extended family and friends.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence in 2001; daughter-in-law, Ellen Pleggenkuhle; granddaughter, Sarah Pleggenkuhle Penniewell; two great-granddaughters, Madeline and Emma Pleggenkuhle; and her siblings, Dale Whitcher, Jerry Whitcher, and Virgie Whitcher Bruening.