Louise T. Kieke, 78, St. Augusta

July 24, 1947 - January 24, 2026

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30AM on Friday, January 30, 2026, at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in St. Augusta for Louise Kieke, 78 of St. Augusta, who died Saturday, January 24, 2026, surrounded by her family at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Sauk Rapids. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00PM-7:00PM on Thursday and 1 hour prior to services on Friday at the church parish center in St. Augusta. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in St. Cloud.

Louise was born July 24, 1947, in Virginia, MN, to Robert & Helen (Ravnikar) Champa Sr. She was raised in Ely, MN and graduated from Ely High School. Louise attended St. Katherine’s University in Minneapolis, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing. During a trip to St. Augusta with a college friend from the area, she attended the St. Mary’s Help of Christians Church festival, where Herbert A. Kieke took notice of her in the bingo tent where he was working. He brought a bingo card to Louise and introduced himself. The following year, Louise married Herbert on October 11, 1969, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Ely, MN. Louise and Herbert built a home with their own hands on a plot of land within the Kieke family farm in St. Augusta, MN, where they lived and raised their family for 47 years of their nearly 55 years of marriage. Known as a dedicated and caring nurse, Louise started her medical career as nurse’s aide at the age of 16 in a small hospital in Winton, MN. After graduating from nursing school, she started as a registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Hospital where she served patients undergoing pioneering surgeries of that time. Louise discovered she had a passion for serving elderly patients so spent many years working for the Waite Park Nursing Home and the Good Shepherd Community in Sauk Rapids. At the end of her career, Louise helped to establish the assisted living program at the Good Shepherd Community and was very proud to have returned to live there herself when the time came. She was a member of St. Mary Help of Christian Catholic Church in St. Augusta and active in the Christian Women and St. Augusta Lions Club for many years. Louise was a very social person who made friends and acquaintances easily. Even when she returned to her room at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home the day before she died, she happily greeted and chatted with many of the friends and acquaintances she made with the residents and staff in the short time she lived there. Most of all Louise enjoyed spending time with her family. She especially loved being a grandma and was very proud to be a great grandma. She spent many hours sharing her love of music, quilting, and baking with her grandchildren. They hold special memories of her annual Christmas-cookie making day, and the never-ending supply of treats she had for them, whenever they visited her.

She is survived by her children, Greg (Margaret) of Cold Spring; Amy (John) Allen of Long Prairie; Kimberly (Derek Anderson) Watson of Clearwater; her grandchildren, Ryan Kieke, Emily (Kasey) Brinker, Ethan Watson, Matthew Watson, Jack (Mary) Allen, Isabelle (Guadalupe) Orozco, Colton Allen; 2 great-granddaughters Clara & Liliana; her brother, Louie Champa of Ely, sister Linda (Bruce) Fritz of St. Cloud, sister-in-law Doris Schroeder of St. Augusta, brother-in-law/sister-in-law Bob & Carol Kieke of Stacy, MN, and many nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Herbert on September 16, 2024, brother, Bob Champa Jr., an infant brother, and infant granddaughter Sophia Kieke.