• Services for Irene Breitkreutz, 104, of Omaha, Neb., and formerly of Groton, will be 11 a.m., Friday, March 1 at the United Methodist Church, Groton.  The Rev. Matt Richards will officiate.  Burial will follow in Union Cemetery, Groton.
• Visitation will be held at the church on Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Irene died February 17, 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Irene Martha (Henry) Breitkreutz was born to Lula and William Henry in Dustin, Oklahoma on April 5, 1908.  She was valedictorian of her 1925 high school graduating class where she played center on the girls'

basketball team.  Upon completion of high school, she attended a semester of college with the intention of becoming a nurse, but an appendectomy interrupted her plans.
• She married Alfred Breitkreutz in Sapulpa, Oklahoma on December 16, 1926. To this union, three children were born: Alfred Leonard, Ralph Dale and Mary Jane.  They lived in Shawnee Oklahoma until 1931 when they moved to Groton, South Dakota.  They lived on their farm northeast of Groton until 1959 when they built a residence in Groton.  Irene loved being on the farm, where they raised grain, cattle, pigs and chickens.  A long-time member of the United Methodist Church, she was active in the United Methodist Women.  She worked briefly at the Groton Nursing Home following the death of her husband in 1972.  Following several hospitalizations in 2003 she moved to Omaha to live with her daughter and family until her death on February 17th, 2013.  She loved to play cards, was a member of the Handicraft Club, worked jumbles/crossword puzzles, watched Wheel of Fortune, embroidered dishtowels and crocheted many, many afghans. Irene was extremely proud to be a Gold Star Mother.   At age 100, Irene was named the Omaha Nebraska Visiting Nurses Association "Volunteer of the Year" for her work crocheting baby afghans for young mothers at the homeless shelters. The VNA liked to boast that they had the oldest volunteer in Omaha.
• Irene was preceded in death by her husband, Alfred, her parents, seven brothers and sisters, a son, Alfred Leonard and daughter-in-law, Paula Erdmann Breitkreutz. 
• She is survived by her children: Ralph and Virginia Breitkreutz, Mary Jane and

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