Herbert Ratzlaff

Herbert "Herb" Harold Ratzlaff was born on June 4, 1915, in Mt. Lake, Minnesota to the late Henry and Katherine (Kliewer) Ratzloff. He received his education in the Mountain Lake Public Schools; graduating in the Class of 1933. During the heart of the depression, there were no jobs available and Herb entered the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) where he built many structures in Gooseberry Falls Park for one-half years. He then came home and worked with his father at Butterfield Produce in Windom as well as bartending. Herb then worked at Westbrook Produce. In 1938, he moved to Windom and worked full-time as a bartender at Twin Barrels in Windom. In September of 1940, Herb joined the National Guard and was called into active duty in January of 1941. He served in Kodiak, Alaska, central France and southern Germany with the 7th Infantry. In October of 1945, he was honorably discharged and returned to Windom. On August 12, 1946, Herb was united in marriage to Mavis Vandermoon at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Jeffers. He was baptized and confirmed at the time of his marriage. This marriage was blessed with six children. Herb worked with his brother, Al, at Butterfield Produc...[more]

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n Windom until 1964. In 1962, he took a part-time position with the United State Postal Service in the Windom branch and in 1964, he became full-time employee with the postal service. Through the years, Herb sorted many articles of mail until 1980, when, at the age of 65, he retired. Recently, Herb's health had been declining and on Sunday morning, November 29, 2009, he was taken by ambulance to the Windom Area Hospital where he passed away a short time later at the age of 94. Herb was a longtime member of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Windom where he was a member of the Knights of Columbus; American Legion Post 206 in Windom; and the Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW). Herb will be remembered for many things in life which included his love of sports, his big coin collections, crossword puzzles, an avid Minnesota Twins and Vikings fan, bowling, horseshoes, and softball. Most of all, Herb will be remembered for being a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather. Herb is survived by his wife of sixty-three years, Mavis Ratzlaff of Windom; six children, Karen (Don) Dittmar of Beloit, WI; Mark (Doris) Ratzlaff of Mapleton; Kathy Ratzlaff of Windom; Joanne (Mark) Knutson of Lakeville; Steve (Lynn) Ratzlaff of Spirit Lake, Iowa; Mary (Mike) Johnson of Lake Crystal; 14 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends. Herb is preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Alfred Ratzloff; two step-sisters, Lucille and Sylvia.