Selma Arnst

An enigma wrapped inside a mystery, much still remains unknown about the girl known as Sally, even after 98 years.
Selma Emelia Margarethe was born to Oscar and Emelie "Molly" (Rosenthal) Limberg, weighing one (or was it three?) pounds on February 13, 1918, in the Town of Greenbush, where both families were, and still are, accomplished agricultural producers.
Moving to Sheboygan at a young age, she and her siblings, Norma and Winston, attended local schools and loved their lakeside Deland-area home.
With natural ability in math and science, she was encouraged by our wonderful school system to pursue engineering, but, ever a person of contradictions, didn't want to be the only girl in the classes. Yet, she rarely limited her interests to those deemed appropriate for girls - and though reserved, proper, and fashion-conscious, she loved school, tennis, swimming, writing, traveling, and playing her guitar with her country/popular "combo" on the radio - far more than the cooking, sewing, and homemaking skills deemed necessary for young ladies at that time. Her efforts in those areas were far more admired by her family than by herself.
Encouraged by her parents to pursue her education, she went on to County Normal School, the Depression-era choice, where she prepared for her career teaching First Grade, and leading Girl Scouts, at an alma mater, Trinity Lutheran School. If memory serves, she was again a reluctant trailblazer, being the first female teacher under the formidable Rev. C.P. Schulz and the kind Dr. J. Arthur Koss. Never giving up on her dream of college, she attended summer schools at Northwestern and River Forest.
After the War, she married Gottlieb "Mike" Arnst, a dashing B-17 Air Force mechanics' trainer who shared many of her values and dreams, in San Francisco, where members of the Arnst family were beginning to gravitate, and owned a restaurant in the heart of the bustling downtown, before returning home to Sheboygan to raise their family.
Finding no suitable home available on the north side in those postwar days, they ventured forth into the uncharted wilderness of the south side, switching to Bethlehem Lutheran, around which Mike's and her lives subsequently centered. She treasured the pastors and fellow parishioners there, especially Pastor Dan Siedenburg and his family, the pastor during their more active years and a neighbor; Pastors Hartman and Kubow; and many devoted staff.
The voice of her kind and gentle soul was the unfailing defender of freedom, fairness, and opportunity (as long as it didn't interfere with God's strict rules), for everyone from her family and friends to her students to an intruding spider. That gentle voice was often as not drowned out by the more boisterous and worldly personalities and culture around her, and often not recognized or appreciated by those who benefited from it most.
Selma looked at life as a blessing of endless possibilities, though she was not always able to realize them - a reminder of how fragile life's blessings really are. Still, she treasured her Church, family, country, education, and friends every day of her life, and loved nothing as much as a summer day and the sounds of children playing in the evening; weekends picnicking and swimming at local lakes; travel throughout the country; or a week at a cottage "up North". Her faith was a thing for this life too, not just the next, and it gave her the kind, tolerant,, and insightful sense of humor and aplomb with which she handled all difficulties.
Selma is survived by her son, Philip; daughter, Melanie Koch; beloved son-in-law, Gordy Koch; granddaughter, Caitlyn Koch; sisters-in-law, Edith Fahl and Adora Arnst; and following generations of Limbergs, Rosenthals, and Arnsts.
She was preceded in death by almost everyone including her parents, her brother, Winston (Hildegarde) Limberg, and sister, Norma Limberg; Mike's 14 other siblings and in-laws, and many cherished friends.
Her family would like to thank the incredible crew of Sheboygan County's Meals on Wheels program, and the outstanding staff at Sheboygan Progressive Care Center, especially Darcy, CNA, who fought for Selma like her own daughter, and made her last days some of the most blessed in our lives.
Funeral services will be held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1121 Georgia Avenue, Sheboygan, WI 53081. Reverend James Hartman, Senior Pastor, will officiate. A time of visitation and support will be held Tuesday at the church from 2:00 p.m. until the time of service. Burial will take place at Lutheran Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established in Selma's name for Bethlehem Lutheran School.