Audrey Lorraine Prellwitz Ousman

Audrey Lorraine Ousman passed away April 14, 2017 at her home in Pueblo, Colorado. Audrey was born October 12, 1932 in Alta Vista Township, Lincoln County, Minnesota to George and Ina (Kremin) Prellwitz. She was the seventh of eight children who endured the harsh life of depression era farmers on the harsh Minnesota prairie. In the forties, the family saw four sons go to war. Three returned. Harold, the eldest, perished in the sinking of the SS Dorchester. Audrey, two sisters and a younger brother, Rodney, did the work of the absent men. It must have been then that she acquired the cheerfully perseverance that she embodied throughout her life. As a child, Audrey attended a one-room country schoolhouse, then as a young teen, Canby Public School. In 1948 her parents retired from the farm and moved to Minneota, where she graduated in 1950. Audrey worked as a receptionist/artist for a local photography studio, then several years later traveled to San Diego, California where on May 24, 1952 she married Seaman Wallace J. Ousman, also of Minneota. In 1954, after the birth of their first child and the completion of Wally’s service to the USN, the couple returned to Minnesota. There they were to have four more children. Audrey worked most of her life in the secretarial field, first for the Minneota School District, then for Ousman Printing which she and Wally purchased in the 1960’s. The family moved from Minneota to Marshall in 1963. In 1980, the Ousmans sold the business, pulled up roots and moved to Colorado where Audrey was employed by Cotopaxi Consolidated School and Wally by Master Printers, then the Colorado Correctional System. Audrey retired in 1996, several years after Wally. In 1997, the couple moved to Pueblo, where Wally passed away in 2003. Audrey enjoyed working as a volunteer for St. Mary Corwin Hospital, played bridge and was active in her church. Audrey was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, sisters LaVerna Schoephoerster and Janice Cichy; brothers Harold, Cleon (Alice), Ronald and one grandson Jason Glasser. She is survived by her children, Laurie (Pete) Mazza, Karen (Richard) Leffler, Mark Ousman, Julie (Richard) Bauman, and Thomas (Linda) Ousman all of Colorado. She is also survived by brothers Orvin (Lois) Prellwitz and Rodney (Barbara) Prellwitz; grandchildren, Joshua Glasser (Shiree Shaffer), Jeremy (Emily) Glasser, Jared (Abby) Leffler, Jordan (Micaela) Leffler, Jade (Kristyn) Leffler, Jameson (Chelsey) Leffler, Benjamin Bauman and Naomi Bauman, 13 great-grandchildren, numerous step-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and dear friends. A Celebration of Life Service was held July 15, 2017 at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Pueblo, Colorado. Interment of ashes took place on October 7, 2017 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Minneota, Minnesota.