Wilbur Abel, of Montevideo, died Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at Clara City Care Center at the age of 95.
Funeral services will be conducted on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 11:00 A.M. at Watson Lutheran Church in Watson with Vicar Linda Estling officiating. Interment will be in Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Montevideo.
Visitation will be Monday from 5 - 7:00 PM and with a prayer service at 6:30 P.M. at Anderson-TeBeest Funeral Home in Montevideo and at the church for one hour before the service on Tuesday.
Wilbur Abel was born on April 1, 1920, in Havelock Township, Montevideo, MN to Emil and Frieda (Schwarzburg) Abel. Wilbur was baptized, confirmed, and married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Clara City, MN. He attended rural grade school. On March 18, 1945, he was united in marriage to Margaret (Sharp). He and Margaret lived in Montevideo, in upstate New York for 27 years, and in Watson for the past 28 years. He was currently a resident of the Clara City Care Center. Wilbur operated heavy equipment during his career. Notable projects were building air bases in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Thule, Greenland, and working on the Niagara Power Project and a nuclear power plant in New York. He was a member of Watson Lutheran Church. He enjoyed his family and friends most of all. Fishing with Margaret, his brothers and sisters, and friends from New York all gave him countless stories to tell and retell.
Wilbur loved and was loved by his family: daughter, Virginia Schnaible and her husband Richard of Carson City, NV; four grandchildren: Rebecca (and Rudy) de León, Minden, NV; Zachary (and Shannon) Schnaible, Carson City, NV; Nathan (and Kerri) Schnaible, San Diego, CA; and Aaron (and Kelly) Schnaible, Reno, NV; six great-grandchildren: Moisés de León; Natalie, Samuel, Cadence, Amelia, and Maggie Anne Schnaible. He is survived by his sisters, Shirley (Abel) Davis and Dora (Abel) Redal; and nieces and nephews from the Abel, Davis, Redal, and Schmidt families.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Emil and Frieda (Schwarburg) Abel and brothers—Quinten, Howard, Dale, Kenneth, and Earl.