Fred P. Tappendorf Jr., 94, Altamont
Fred P. Tappendorf Jr., 94, of Altamont, died at 4:38 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009, at Lutheran Care Center in Altamont.
Services were held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in rural Altamont, with the Rev. Clayton G. Vail officiating. Burial with military rites was in St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Altamont. Kull Funeral Chapel in Altamont was in charge of arrangements. Memorials: St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Altamont.
Mr. Tappendorf was born on July 4, 1915, on the family farm in Mound Township in Effingham County, near Altamont, the son of Fred P. Sr. and Augusta Durheim-Tappendorf. He married Hilda Lydia Durheim on Dec. 6, 1941, at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Dr. Marin Naumann officiating; she died on May 19, 1984. He married Edna Harnish-Beccue on Feb. 28, 1987, at Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Richard Bolin officiating; she died on Sept. 9, 2002.
He was a mechanic for Hugo and Arnold Wendling, the Allis-Chalmers implement dealership in Altamont, for a number of years, and he was a retired grain and livestock farmer. He enlisted in the Navy on Feb. 3, 1942, and received an honorable discharge on Sept. 18, 1945, holding the rank of aviation machinist’s mate first class. He was a member of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Altamont and a former member of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7676 of Altamont.
He is survived by sons, Marvin Tappendorf and his wife Janice of Altamont, and Eugene Tappendorf and his wife Jane of Altamont; daughters, Carol and her husband David Polk of Stewardson, and Irene and her husband Joseph Andorfer of Rochester; grandchildren, Kent Tappendorf and his wife Joellen, Kevin Tappendorf and his wife Kristy, Kirk Tappendorf and his wife Brittany, Karine Tappendorf, Sean Tappendorf and his wife Jennifer, Amy and her husband Damian Bozzacco, David B. Polk, Donald P. Polk, Caroline and her husband Andrew Funneman, and Heidi Andorfer and her husband Jon Hamberg; and 11 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Frank Tappendorf and his wife Lucy, Henry Tappendorf and his wife Lydia, Theodore Tappendorf and his wife Elnora Sheidel-Tappendorf, Louis Tappendorf and his wife Vera, and Edwin Tappendorf, at age 3; sisters, Alvena and her husband Martin Aderman, Adeline and her husband John Winter, and Ruth Tappendorf, at age 3; and a granddaughter, Beth Ann Tappendorf.