The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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February 17, 2013

Amy Mae (Smith) Poll

—   Amy Mae (Smith) Poll, Cleveland, Minn., died February 16 at 82 of congestive heart failure after a long illness.

  Amy was born in her family's farmhouse near Lincoln, Minn., on May 14, 1930, the eldest child of Albert E. and Jenne (Fougner) Smith. She attended the Lincoln school, where she skipped a grade, and graduated from Staples (Minn.) high school after 11 years. She moved to Minneapolis and worked for the Bituminous Insurance Company and Alice Chalmers (generator division) in the Foshay Tower. Amy married Arthur Poll on Oct. 8, 1949, in a country church that still stands in Lincoln.

  Amy and Art moved in the early 1950s to Mankato, where she worked for Miller Motors. They moved to Cleveland in 1956 and Amy managed the bookkeeping for the family plumbing and heating business. She gardened and canned fruits and vegetables. She baked thousands of cakes for her family and events at church in her lifetime, and, with her husband, provided a loving, secure home for her children and a welcoming house for her grandchildren.

  While her children were in school Amy was active in the Cleveland Public School community club and the band and choir mothers group. She was a member of the Dorcas Circle at the Cleveland Church of Christ, where she also taught Sunday school and played the piano. In the early 1980s, with her children older, Amy worked as bookkeeper and typesetter at the St. Peter New Times and St. Peter Herald newspapers.

  In addition to her husband, Amy is survived by a son, Donn (Eric Nelson), Tucson, Ariz.; two daughters, Cindy Poll, Richfield, and Patty Nimtz (Steve), Burnsville; two grandsons, Charlie Nimtz, Burnsville, and Daniel Nimtz, Grand Forks, N.D.; a sister, Leona Ziehl, Prior Lake; a brother, Allen Smith (Carol), Red Wing; sisters-in-law, Carole Smith, Motley, Minn., Diane Smith, Sun Prairie, Wisc; many nieces and nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Keith, Rodney and Roland (Karen); brother-in-law Melvin Ziehl; and nephew Erich Ziehl.

  Amy's life was dedicated to her family. The family will recall many memories of tent camping together and good laughs playing cards or working on projects around the house. Amy and several of her many cousins shared research on the Smith and Fougner family histories. Her family will always remember Amy's rice hotdish, spice cake and Bisquick coffee cake. Amy enjoyed record keeping, collecting dishes, sewing and needle work, tending her garden, and listening to radio broadcasts of Twins games.

  Funeral services are Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Cleveland Church of Christ, Cleveland, Minn. Friends may visit with the family at the church beginning at 10 am. Service will be held at 11 with lunch to follow.  Interment will be in Savidge Lake Cemetery, later in the year.  St. Peter Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.

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