Madeline was born November 26, 1917; the second child

And oldest daughter of Arnold and Elizabeth Borka Zeman.

Her siblings were a brother Sylvester (1914-1990) and two

sisters Armella(who is still living) and Charlotte (1928-1989).

She was raised in Waconia, Minnesota and attended St.

Joseph’s Catholic School; graduating 8^th grade in 1931. That

was the extent of her formal education.

There were two childhood friends that mom remained

in contact with throughout the years; Lauretta and

Margaret. My grandmother did housecleaning for

Margaret and her family for many years.

My mom and dad were married in Cologne, Minnesota.

I have two different dates for their marriage, taken from

church certificates. One date was May 24^th, 1938 and

the other was May 25^th, 1938. Three children were born

to them, Robert, Rudolph (1939-2004) and Patricia.

Mom worked 19 1/2 years for West Bend Thermo

Serv in Anoka, Minnesota. She started there when

the company was known as NFC Corporation,

which stood for the owner’s name Nels F. Cornelius.

Her favorite pastime was fishing. Give her a fishing

rod, some bait and just get out of her way! She could

out fish a lot of the men…Surprising for someone who

was deathly afraid of water!!!