Renate O. Forsling

Renate O. Forsling, 72, of Hay Springs, and formerly of Kimball, died at Pioneer Manor Nursing Home in Hay Springs on Monday, March 2, 2015.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 5, at the Cantrell Funeral Home in Kimball with Sister Anne Hall officiating. Burial will be held in the Kimball Cemetery.

Friends were able to call at the funeral home from 1-6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, to sign the register book and leave condolences for the family. Renate's tribute wall can be viewed at http://www.cantrellfh.com to view the obituary and leave messages of condolence for the family. Memorials have been established to the First English Lutheran Church in Kimball. The services for Renate have been entrusted to the Cantrell Funeral Home.

Renate Olga Forsling was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia on March 18, 1942, the daughter of Jacob and Edith (Schwartz) Schmidt. During this pivotal time in European history, her family of five, which included her grandmother, were forced to flee the city by make shift sled crossing of the Baltic Sea into Denmark and eventually migrated further inland with the help of the Lutheran Church. Their home was established in Lauda, where Renate and her siblings were able to attend school. School did not grab her attention; she preferred athletics and was quite a gymnast. She graduated high school at the age of 14, she attended beautician school and was employed at a beauty shop in the nearby town of Mergentheim.

She shared many fond stories of her youth with her family and friends. Renate and her future husband Alfred met on a blind date while he was serving in the U.S. military in Germany and stationed near Lauda. They wanted to get married in Germany before he was discharged so she could accompany him back to the United States as his wife. Permission in Germany to get married was very slow and this was unable to happen. Once they were both in the U.S., Al and Renate drove from New York to Kimball in the new Opal that was shipped from Germany. They were married in Scottsbluff on Dec. 20, 1960, by a family friend, Father Whitney. They lived on the Buckbrush Ranch, and Al joined his father in the farming and livestock business, "Forslings Inc." Al's mother was a former school teacher and helped Renate's reading and English, allowing her to attain her U.S. citizenship, which she did on Feb. 16, 1968.

Renate is fondly known by her family and friends for her charitable giving, by having spent many years as a Sunday School teacher and leader in her church, Meals-On-Wheels Volunteer, PEO Sister and the number one supporter of all three of her daughter's and one grandson's many activities. She always had an infectious smile and laugh.

Survivors include her husband, Al Forsling of Hay Springs; daughters, Ingrid Forsling of White, S.D., Andrea Scales and partner Chastity Pettit of Denver, Colo., and Anita (Jeff) Brewer of Gordon; brother, Siegfried (Louisa) Schmidt of Spain; sister, Marianne (Ray) Newsom of Harlingen, Texas; grandchildren, Andrew (Anna) Loy; step-grandchildren Jackie, Steven, Timithy, and Robert; great grandsons Mason and Carter Loy. She was preceded in death by her parents.