Valeria Fleischhacker

Valeria "Val" Fleischhacker, age 93, Clark died early Thursday morning in a Watertown hospital. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 10:30 AM in the St. Michael's Catholic Church at Clark with The Reverend Bill Hamak officiating. Burial will be in the St. Boniface Cemetery at Clark. Visitation will be held on Tuesday from 5-7PM with a Liturgical Scripture service at 7PM all in the Furness Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will continue on Wednesday morning at the Church one hour preceding services. Valeria Val Fleischhacker was born February 19, 1917, and raised on a farm in Merton Township 12 miles from Clark. Her parents were Earl and Delia (Hallinan) Geise. She attended a one-room schoolhouse in the Township. In 1929, during the depression, she worked for the Bockoven family for her room and board while attending Clark High School. For a short time she worked in Watertown and later she was employed at Citizens State Bank in Clark. She passed her civil service exam and worked in Minneapolis for the Navy Department. Her business career then led her to the University of Minnesota Center for Continuing Education. Her commitment to politics and womens rights issues heightened when she worked at the University. It was there she became a member and secretary of the famous 2nd Ward Club. This Club fostered the political careers of Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, mayors of Minneapolis and a host of congressmen, both state and national. In the early 1940s, she was united in marriage to Rudolph Fleischhacker. To this union 2 children were born, a baby girl, Valerie who died in infancy and James E. This marriage later ended in divorce. In 1966 Val accepted a position with Congressman Donald Fraser in Washington, D.C. She was involved from the beginning of the struggle for passage of the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). She worked closely with Congresswoman Martha Griffiths and her staff. She was present when the House and Senate passed the ERA. In 1974, Ms. Fleischhacker became a lobbyist, assuming directorship of N-Cap (Nurses Coalition for Action in Politics.) This was the first attempt by the nurses to establish a national political action committee. Val retired in 1977. After moving to Harrisburg, Pa. in 1980, she was named coordinator of PEWA (Pennsylvania Elected Womens Association) for Dauphin-Cumberland counties. She also volunteered for the More Womens Candidates project of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. She returned to her roots in Clark in 1990, living once again in the home her parents owned. Val opened the home to others and established Gram Vals B & B. Her continued interest in education and political activism resulted in her election to the Clark School Board and numerous letters to the editor in local papers. Val moved once again in 2005. She settled in Naperville, Il. to be close to her son, Jim. After living there, she moved to Wookeys Assisted Living. Val was a resident there when she passed away. Survivors who are grateful for having shared her life are her son, James E. (Ann) Fleischhacker of Naperville, IL, sisters, Arvilla Carr of Clark and Genevieve Stockwell of Longmont, CO, a sister-in-law, Margaret Geise of Clark, and 2 granddaughters, Inga Fleischhacker and Heidi McBride. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death was a daughter in infancy, Valerie, siblings, Keith, Emil and Vince Geise and Regina Hanson and a brother-in-law, Jack Carr. In lieu of flowers memorials can be directed to The Mayo Clinic at Rochester, MN. Memorials can be sent to the funeral home and we will send them onto Rochester or you can go directly to http://www.mayoclinic.org/development/make-gift.html#memory. Should you wish to send a memorial card to her family, please send it to the funeral home for us to forward onto her family. Any gift can be made in memory. By supporting Mayo's work, such thoughtful gifts can help ensure a healthier future for people today and in the future. When making your gift, please indicate the name of the person you wish to honor and provide a mailing address (please use the funeral home address and we will send it on to her family) as appropriate on the giving form, in a short note or in the memo portion of a check addressed to Mayo Clinic. We will be honored to send a notification of your generous remembrance to the individual or individuals memorialized or honored (gift amount is not disclosed). Our online giving site and our Printable Donation Form also include text fields which allow you to designate your gift to a specific Mayo Clinic program and instruct us to notify others that you have made a gift in memory or in honor of someone. Arrangements will be announced by the Furness Funeral Home of Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com