James Zimmerman

November 26, 1923-January 25, 2015

James E. Zimmerman, 91, a lifelong farmer, conservationist and resident of Waseca County died peacefully on Sunday, January 25, 2015 due to complications from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. A wake will be held on Saturday, January 31 from 9-10:30 am at Sacred Heart Church Waseca, followed by a funeral Mass at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Sacred Heart School, the Waseca Senior Center, and the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, MN.

James, son of Henry and Anna Zimmerman, was born on November 26, 1923 in Waseca, MN where he graduated from Sacred Heart and first married Irene Miller in 1946. After his wife and six children were killed in a car/train accident in 1959 he found a way to move past his loss and focus on getting a law passed that required equal transportation of public and private school children. Zimmerman remarried Vivian Hoffman Kraus and her six children in 1962, and together the couple had three more children.

Zimmerman cared deeply about the land and was an avid sportsman and conservationist, receiving several local and state awards including the Minnesota Soil & Water Conservation District Farmer-Sportsman of the Year and Decade, 2002 Minnesota Waterfowl Conservationist of the Year, 2005 Waseca County Hometown Hands Citizen of the Year, 2012 Waseca Rotary Service Above Self, and the 2015 Waseca County Distinguished Agricultural Leadership Award.

He expanded the family farm from roughly 180 acres to almost 1,200 acres when his sons took over the farm in 1989. Zimmerman was passionate about restoring wetlands and helped to create or expand 10 ponds and 15 miles of trails on and around his land. He set aside 200 acres as conservation land, planted over 2000 trees, and helped to create Moonan Marsh in Waseca County. Zimmerman was a board member of several natural resource, water conservation and management, and farming groups. He was a member of the Sacred Heart's Knights of Columbus, and active in the community. For over a dozen years he wrote the regular article, "In Your Own Backyard," for the Waseca County News which celebrated the changing of seasons and many natural assets that bless this region. He led high school nature tours of surrounding lakes and county parks, and in addition to his love of family, God and the outdoors, he was a committed gardener and bridge player.

Zimmerman is survived by his nine children and their spouses: Joan (Vern) Kraus Koester of Northfield, James (Marcia) Kraus of Tucson, Arizona, Steven (Benjy) Kraus of Bangkok, Thailand, Richard (Dawn) Kraus of Lakeville, Ronald (Kathy) Kraus of Fort Myers, FL, Thomas (Sue) Kraus of Owatonna, Peter (Annette) Zimmerman of Waseca, Paul (Andrea) Zimmerman of Waseca, and, Mariia (Roger) Zimmerman-Skalbeck of Arlington, VA; his two sisters: Sr. Catherine Zimmerman of Rochester and Mary Mackey of Hudson, WI; his sisters-in-law Bonnie Zimmerman of Waseca and Colleen Hoffman of Albert Lea; brothers-in-law Milton Hoffman of Rochester and Glen Hoffman of Tucson, Arizona; 27 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; dozens of nieces and nephews; and many other relatives.