A Bit of History at Fall Retreat! Women attending the SWD LWML Fall Retreat in Manitowoc on October 15-16, 2010 enjoyed a special treat when Gertrude Schmidtke-Koehlinger spoke to the group. As she so enthusiastically spoke, those in attendance saw and heard history right before their eyes and ears. Gertrude, at 97 years of age, exhibited her “young at heart” spirit, with humor thrown in. She told of being part of the historic group of women that met at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL in 1942 for the organizational meeting of the start of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Sixty-eight years ago, these women felt that they needed to have a women’s group within our Lutheran Church in which women could serve the Lord by helping the missions of our church. Since that time, Gertrude has been very active in many facets of LWML work, wherever her husband – a pastor – was called. She certainly is an example of our LWML motto of, “Serve the Lord with Gladness.” One bit of advice she gave the retreat attendees was to eat one cookie after each meal.
Contributed by Barbara Kurth, Vice President of Communication
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