Colleen Anna Lempkie

Colleen A. Lempkie, age 60, of Winnebago, died Monday, July 2, 2012, at Immanuel St. Joseph''s Hospital in Mankato. A memorial gathering will be held on Friday, July 6, 2012, from 4:00 to 7:00PM at Patton Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Blue Earth. Burial will be in St. Michaels Cemetery, Morgan, MN at a later date. Web tributes may be left at www.pattonfh.comColleen was born January 22, 1952, in Sleepy Eye, MN, the daughter of Leo and Anna (Mathiowetz) Zinniel. She was raised in Wells where she was a1970 graduate of Wells High School. She attended nursing school and worked at St. Mary''s Hospital in Minneapolis before her wedding to Douglas E. Lempkie on March 27, 1976 in Savage, MN. The couple soon moved to Waverly, PA where Colleen was a homemaker and raised two children. The family returned to Wells in 1989 where Colleen was active in the local community theater and worked as a pharmacists assistant at Miles Drug for several years. In 1994 she moved to Winnebago where she continued to be active in the community. She was an attentive caregiver to her mother for 19 years and enjoyed looking after her six grandchildren. She loved to read a variety of books, loved animals, was a wonderful painter of murals and other subjects. She was well known for keeping a good sense of humor through the years.Colleen Lempkie is survived by her husband, Douglas Lempkie of Winnebago, her son, Bryan Lempkie of Winnebago, her daughter, Beth Lempkie and husband Dan Ries of Sioux Falls, SD, her sister, Mary (Jerry) Zimmeth of Apple Valley, her brother, Leon (Shirley) Zinniel of Chisholm, MN, her brother, Lyle (Kathy) Zinniel of Winnebago, and her seven grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her parents.