Antonia M. Sudbeck Wassenberg, 93 of Seneca, died on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020, at her home.

Antonia was born on May 9, 1927 on a farm near St. Benedict, Kansas the only daughter of Franz and Mary A. (Olberding) Sudbeck. She grew up in the St. Benedict community and attended school at St. Mary’s School.

She married. W. A. “Bill” Wassenberg on June 22, 1946 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in St. Benedict, Kansas. The couple farmed and raised five children. She worked the fields alongside Bill; and the family laughs at the fact that she wore out the family 560 tractor. Antonia was proud of the fact that the couple won the National Soybean Growing Contest in the 70s; winning a trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Bill died on March 21, 1977. With the help of her children, Antonia was able to keep the farms she and her husband worked and loved. On September 2, 1988 she married Melvin Haug, the couple celebrated 23 years of marriage together, before Melvin’s death on August 30, 2011.

Antonia was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Altar Society. She was humble, quiet and not afraid of hard work. She was an avid outdoors woman; that is where she was the happiest. She also loved animals and she really loved to go fishing. She suffered more loss than most in her lifetime; but those hardships she endured molded and exposed the strong, tough but kind woman she was. When she was not outdoors, she could be found in her kitchen; and was delighted to be awarded the 1986 Champion Plaque for the Brown-Nemaha County Bake It with Lard Pie Baking Contest.

Besides her husbands, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Gloria Wassenberg on December 13, 1999; a son, Daniel Wassenberg on February 14, 2015; her parents, Franz on December 20, 1943 and Mary A. on September 16, 1990; and brothers, Linus Sudbeck on August 7, 1990, Francis H. Sudbeck on October 16, 2018, Junias Sudbeck on March 22, 2019 and Virgil Sudbeck on July 4, 2016.

She is survived by her daughters, Elaine Manahan and Renee Wassenberg-Uhlich both of Seneca and her son, Tim Wassenberg of Baileyville.

A rosary will be prayed at 10:30 A.M. Saturday morning, December 26, 2020 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baileyville, Kansas, prior to the funeral Mass at 11AM. The Burial will be at the Sacred Heart Church Cemetery in Baileyville.

Memorials may be left to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, in Antonia’s memory.