Mayadell Breneman Bollefer, age 94, died of natural causes in her home at Cleveland, Ga., on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019.
Mrs. Bollefer was born Nov. 1, 1924, in the town of Ray, in Koochiching County, Minn., and was the daughter of Herbert Breneman and Edith Peterson Breneman.
She was a member of the South Bend United Methodist Church, and a loving wife and mother.
Mrs. Bollefer chose to have her remains cremated. Therefore, there will be no customary funeral arrangements. A memorial service has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Northwoods Bible Church, 2119 Highway 217, Ray.
Pastor Cory Rintala will officiate.
Mrs. Bollefer’s cremains will be interred next to her husband, in Ray.
Mrs. Bollefer was preceded in death by her mother and father; by husband, Dwight L. Bollefer; brother, Gordon A. Breneman; brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Wilma Breneman; and by her daughter, Dianne Bollefer Krenik.
She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Norton and Ruby Breneman of Ray; son, Dennis Dwight Bollefer of Pendleton, S.C.; son and daughter-in-law, Walter and Nancy Bollefer of International Falls, Minn.; by daughter and son-in-law, Richard and Beverly Jean Bollefer Long, of Cleveland, Ga.; by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.
Mayadell spent her childhood in Ray, where she was graduated from Falls High School. At the age of 17, she traveled with some classmates to Seattle, Wash., where she became a quintessential Rosie the Riveter, helping Boeing Aircraft build fighter aircraft during World War II.
While working there, she began dating Dwight Bollefer, to whom she was married for 52 years. Together, she and Dwight owned and operated a very successful heating and air conditioning business in Minneapolis, Minn., and reared a family of four children.
They sold the business, and retired to Fergus Falls, Minn., in 1984. In 1991, they moved back to Ray.
From an early age, Mayadell was very interested in sewing. She learned to knit, and to crochet. But she found her greatest creative outlet in quilting. She taught herself the art of quilting, and made hundreds of quilts, one of which was valued at more than $5,000, and was judged Best of Show from 4,000 entries at a National Quilt Show. Nicknamed The Quilting Queen, Mayadell sewed hand-made quilts for her children and grandchildren. And she taught many classes in which she enabled hundreds of other women to learn the joys of quilting. At the age of 94, she was still sewing dozens of quilts to be given to disadvantaged children.
