Mildred Laube

Mildred Josephine Laube, 88, of Green Bay, WI, died peacefully Monday, June 13 at home with family at her side. She was born February 6, 1923, in Norwood Park, IL, to the late Fred Edwin and Anna Catherine Olson. Mildred worked for many years in the retail industry, selling women's coats, suits, and dresses for Madigan's, Carson Pirie Scott, and Lytton's in the Chicago area, before retiring in 1986. She was a supportive wife to her husband, Bill, who for many years was an electrical engineer, then became a minister of a small Lutheran church in Chicago in 1976. She was hospitable and caring, driving those to church who couldn't drive, inviting for holidays those who had no family and could not return the favor. She had a giving heart, and supported many missionaries and Christian ministries throughout her life without flourish, and as secretly as possible. Her faith was very important to her. After high school and before her marriage in 1948, she took evening classes at the Moody Bible Institute. She was known for reading her Bible faithfully, in her later years going through the Bible multiple times in a year. When in her ‘80s, she joined a women's Bible study at a local church and did her "homework" faithfully. She looked forward to the second coming of the Lord with fervor and enthusiasm. This was the hallmark of her faith. Her favorite book of the Bible was Revelation, and she enjoyed listening to the radio teaching of David Jeremiah and others, especially when they spoke on prophecy and end-time events. Following her husband's death in October of 2000, she moved out of the parsonage and lived with one, then another of her children, lived 2 ½ years by herself in a condo, and finally moved to Green Bay, WI, to live with her daughter Deborah and family for the last 7 months of her life. Between 1997 and 2009 she survived 7 major surgeries, 3 of them cancer-related. Her last surgery was to replace her aortic valve in October of 2009, but early this year tests revealed that both the replaced valve and another valve were calcifying. In April of this year she was also diagnosed with cancer of the liver and bones and was placed on hospice care. She was alert, peaceful and joyful right up until the last few days, when she declined rapidly. Even the hospice workers acknowledged she was ready to go be with her Lord and her husband. She is survived by five children: Rachel (Stew) Bailenson of Woodstock, IL, Bonnie (Martin) Dunlap of Bloomingdale, IL, Mark (Judy) Laube of Vernon Hills, IL, Deborah (Paul) Reed of Green Bay, WI, and Priscilla (Chuck) Metz of Soldiers Grove, WI; 18 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; four sisters-in-law; two brothers-in-law; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Rev. William C. Laube, Jr., three brothers, George, Fred, and Norman Olson; two sisters, Alice Hoekstra and Anna Johnson; and one granddaughter, Monica Judith Laube. Visitation will be Monday, June 20, 2011, from 3 pm until time of service at 7 pm at Sax-Tiedemann Funeral Home, 8568 Belmont Ave., Franklin Park, IL. Interment will be Tuesday, June 21, at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, IL. Memorial contributions may be directed to Coral Ridge Ministries, P.O. Box 1920, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33302-1920 or World Missionary Press, Inc., P.O. Box 120, New Paris, IN 46553-0120.