Luella T. Mielke

Luella T. "Lou" Mielke, 92, formerly of Coal Valley, Illinois, and Moline, Illinois, died Thursday, September 18, 2014, in Hope Creek Care Center, East Moline, Illinois.

Services are 10:30 a.m. Monday at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4107 21st Avenue, Moline, with The Reverend Dr. Wilfred Karsten officiating. Burial is in Western Township Cemetery, Orion, Illinois. Visitation is 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Trimble Funeral Home, Coal Valley. Memorials may be made to the church or Trinity Health Foundation Kramer Society Scholarship Fund.

The former Luella Paula Tschopp was born October 26, 1921, in Marengo, Iowa, to Reinhard and Helen Burge Tschopp. She married Leonard J. Mielke on July 5, 1941, in Milan, Illinois. He died July 24, 1976. She was bookkeeper for her husband's business, Len's Friendly Service in Coal Valley, from 1941 to 1966. She also worked in the Catalog Department at Sears in Moline and owned her own upholstery shop. During WW II, she worked in an airplane factory in Santa Barbara, California.

Lou was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Moline, a charter member of the Women's Auxiliary to the Coal Valley Fire Department, and a member of Rock Island County Home Extension. She was a wonderful grandmother, a fabulous cook, an excellent seamstress, and enjoyed gardening.

Lou is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Roxanne and Terry Kramer of Coal Valley, and Lennie and Randy Swanson of East Moline; a daughter-in-law, Nancy Martin Mielke of Rock Island; nine grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and brothers, Orville Tschopp of East Moline, Eugene Tschopp of Coal Valley, and Raymond Tschopp of Silvis. She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard; a son, Joseph Mielke; a brother, Reinhard Tschopp; and sisters, Leona Baraks and Norma Bailey.

Lou's family invites friends to share stories and condolences and light a free candle in her memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.