Beatrice "Bea" Rademacher

Beatrice B. “Bea” Rademacher, age 96 of Melrose, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at Fairway Pines Assisted Living in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 29 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Mitchell Bechtold officiating. Inurnment will be in the parish cemetery. The Mass will be livestreamed and can be viewed on the church’s YouTube channel: Church of St. Mary Melrose.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday at church. Parish prayers will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday evening at the funeral home.

Beatrice Bernadine Austing was born January 1, 1929 in Millwood Township, Stearns County, Minnesota to Joseph and Anna (Von Boken) Austing. She completed eight years of schooling and at age 15, Bea worked for people in her neighborhood helping with housework and helping care for children in their homes. She was united in marriage to Sylverius “Syl” Rademacher on June 15, 1949 at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in St. Rosa. The couple lived on a farm south of New Munich until their retirement in 1989 when they moved to Melrose. In 1999, they moved to an apartment in Meire Grove for 15 years before moving into Fairway Pines in Sauk Centre.

She was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose and St. Ann’s Christian Women in New Munich. Bea loved to cook and was a great cook. She loved to travel and go to casinos. Her favorite pastime was playing cards, especially 500. Bea taught her children and grandchildren how to play and played cards right up until she passed away. Bea loved spending time with her family, especially with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Survivors include her children, Ruth (Ken) Kortenbusch of Albany, Allen Rademacher of St. Martin, Judy (Keith) Kaiser of St. Joseph, Jack (Rosie) Rademacher of Greenwald, Lori (Dave) Doll of St. Martin, Renee Hesse of Sauk Centre, and Loren (Shari) Rademacher of Richmond; 23 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren on the way.

Bea was preceded in death by her husband, Sylverius Rademacher on November 10, 2016; parents; brothers and sisters, Dorothy Solarz, Alice Evens, Albert Austing, Roman Austing, Norbert Austing, Clarence Austing, Elma Schumacher, and Alvina Rakotz; and three infant siblings.