Erna H. Mantz

Erna H. Mantz, age 92, died Monday, October 4, 2021, at Rose Haven Nursing Home, Marengo, after a five-year battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Funeral service: 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 8, 2021, at the Amana Church, Main Amana with Elder Emilie Hoppe officiating. Burial will be in the Marengo Cemetery, Marengo. Visitation: 10:00 a.m., until the service at 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 8, 2021. A memorial fund has been established. Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo is assisting the family with arrangements. Masks are required at all services.

Erna Helen Setzer was born November 27, 1928, in South Amana, Iowa, the daughter of Fred and Henrietta (Ruff) Setzer. She received her education at the Amana Schools. Erna worked at the South Amana Grocery Store and Sandwich Shop as a teenager. On November 30, 1946, she married Raymond Mantz in Peoria, IL. The couple moved to Marengo and together built their new home to raise their family. In 1952, Erna started work at Amana Refrigeration as a welder, then as a 3D class machine operator, cutting all the copper and aluminum tubing. She retired in 1991.

After retirement Erna and Raymond spent their winters in Apache Junction, Arizona until Raymond’s death in 1998. Not one to stay idle, Erna took part time jobs after Raymond’s passing, working at the Guest House in Amana, and at the Art Guild in Middle Amana before her final retirement at 86 years old. Erna enjoyed baking for her family, and truly enjoyed keeping in touch with her family and friends by phone and cards. She also enjoyed cutting rags to be used for making the Amana woven rugs.

Since May of 2016, Erna aka the “Sheriff”, has been loved and well cared for at Rose Haven Nursing Home in Marengo, Iowa.

Erna is survived by her son Richard (Mary) Mantz; Richard’s sons , Jackson (Jaime) Mantz and his children, Avilon and Skyler; Mary’s children Sarah, Robert, Raeline, and Jessica; Beau (Colleen) Mantz and her children, Sean (Caily) and Liam; daughter Karen (Leo) Kinzenbaw and their children Wendy (Trent) DeNeve, and their children Alyssa (Andrew) Golden, Amber (Devon) Lobdell, Douglas Kinzenbaw, and Craig (Holly) Kinzenbaw, and their children Brooke (Shane) Moenck, and Colton Kinzenbaw. Also surviving Erna are her great-great-grandchildren Olivia and Ezra Golden, Hadley and Hayden Hughes, Kane and Cora Moenck; step great-grandchildren Alexis, Robert, Erin, Meikaella, and Toby; her sister-in-law Mildred Setzer; and her Mantz sisters-in-law Eulah Mantz, Marlene Mantz, Eleanor Maas, and Shirley Witte; and many beloved nieces and nephews of her Setzer and Mantz families. Erna was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; brothers Theobald, Carl, and William; and sisters Emily Shoup and Wilma Roggentine.