Sylvia Wessel

Sylvia Wessel, 95, of Spring Valley, formerly of Fairmont and rural Truman, died Nov. 12, 2025, at Spring Valley Living. Committal service was Monday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m., at the cemetery of St. John’s Lutheran Church of South Branch, 41486 760th Ave., St. James, with worship and refreshments following.
Sylvia was born Feb. 24, 1930, to her parents, Gustave and Agnes (Fritze) Kuske, in Meriden Township in Steele County. She attended elementary school in Wasioja and Dodge Center and graduated from Dodge Center High School in 1948.
After attending Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Ill., she taught in the parochial school system of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Minneapolis; Fresno, Calif.; Howard Lake, Waconia and Truman.
In Truman she met Edward Wessel and they were married in Rochester on June 14, 1959. They made their home on his parents’ farm north of Truman for several years before moving to South Branch Township, Watonwan County, where they raised three children, attended St. John’s Lutheran Church and farmed until 1997. They lived in Asheville, N.C., from 1997 until 2005, when they moved to Fairmont. Edward died in 2018 and Sylvia moved to Spring Valley in 2021 where she was a resident of Spring Valley Living and a member of First English Lutheran Church.
Sylvia was preceded in death by her husband, Edward; brothers, Wilmer, Eugene and Donald Kuske; sisters, Harriett Doepel, Dorothy Kohagen and Luella Wrege; 12 brothers-in-law; seven sisters-in-law; and grandson, Jason Wessel.
She is survived by sons, Lyn Wessel of rural Truman and Loel (Kathy) Wessel of Spring Valley; daughter, LeAnn (Paul) Hilchen of Ankeny, Iowa; grandchildren, Stephanie Hilchen of Ankeny, Benjamin (Jenny) Wessel of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Victoria Hilchen (fiancé Keagan Gilbert) of Ankeny and Zachary (Haley) Wessel of Hartford, S.D.; great-grandson, Christopher Wessel; great-granddaughter, Lucy Wessel (soon to be born); sister, Ethelyn Moeller of Duluth; sisters-in-law, Bess Kuske of Willowbrook, Ill., Mary Kuske of Frankenmuth, Mich., Kathleen Wessel of St. Peter and Lucille Wessel of New Ulm; and many nieces and nephews.
Hindt Funeral Home of Spring Valley is assisting the family.