Kathryn Ann Van Watermeulen

Kathryn Van Watermeulen, age 89, of Minneota, passed away Thursday, October 29, 2026 at Sylvan Court Nursing Home in Canby, MN.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 AM on Thursday, November 5th at St. Edward Catholic Church in Minneota with Father Todd Petersen and Deacon Jason Myhre officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to mass at the church. A private family inurnment will be held in the church cemetery at a later date. Online guest book can be signed at www.rustandweilandfuneral.com. Arrangements are entrusted with Rustand-Weiland Funeral Chapel of Madison, SD with assistance from Hamilton Funeral Home of Marshall.

Kathryn Ann Sanders was born on September 15, 1937 on a farm near Ghent, MN to Theodore & Elmira (Paradis) Sanders. She attended school at St. Edward Catholic School for 8 years before going on and graduating from Minneota High School in 1955. For a couple of years after graduation, Kathryn worked as a secretary for a lawyer in Marshall. On October 20, 1956, she married Joseph Van Watermeulen at St. Edward Catholic Church. The young couple lived in the Marshall and Minneota area until they moved to Genesco, IL in 1961. They soon moved the family to Cleveland, IL where they stayed until 1970, which is when they moved back to a farm site near Joseph’s parent's farm near Canby, MN. They stayed on the farm until they moved to Minneota in 1989. Kathryn took great pride in her work as the administrative secretary for the Canby hospital administrator, Bob Salman. Her speed on the typewriter keys was legendary! She later went on to work as the parish secretary at Holy Redeemer Church in Marshall for many years until her retirement in 2009. In her retirement, she would be seen at the area churches, mainly at the Minneota & Ghent churches, helping the parish secretary with the church bulletins, being a lector, song leader or as a volunteer for anything that needed to be done.

Some of Kathryn’s hobbies were reading, tending to her flower & vegetable gardens, canning and freezing all the produce from her garden and spending time with her grandchildren. She had an incredible gift of musical talent. Kathryn had a beautiful voice and was often heard singing as a member of the church choir. Her children remember her singing to all the songs on the radio as she went through her day. There wasn't a song she didn't know.

Kathryn especially loved her and Joe’s years at the family cabin on Lake Shetek soaking up those rays from the sun out on her lawn chair! That definitely was her happy place.

Kathryn is survived by her five children-Connie (Phillip) VanDeVeire of Canby, Clark (Julie) of Reading, MN, Perry (Dori) of Ft. Lupton, CO, Loren (Susan) of Grantsburg, WI, Todd (Jan) of Cannon Falls, MN; 14 grandchildren-Brandon, Brian, Jessica, Jennifer, Katie, Josh, Cassie, Jackie, Peter, Amanda, Justin, Jared, Nicholas and Abigail; 9 great-grandchildren-Mikayla, Kaden, Kendra, Cassidy, Crystal, Eli, Anela, Makoa and Rosalie; 3 step great-grandchildren-Mackenzie, Lena and Sonja and sister-in-law-Donna Sanders of Cottonwood, MN.

She was preceded in death by her parents-Theodore & Elmira; husband, Joseph; infant daughter-Caryl Ann and brother-Jerrold Sanders.