Cordell Clifton Herbert, age 86, of Osseo, Wisconsin, went to be with his Lord and Savior on January 23, 2022, at the Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center in Owen, Wisconsin. He was born on July 23, 1935, in Arcadia, Wisconsin, the son of Bruno B. Herbert and Lillie D. (Schorbahn) Herbert.
Cordell attended Pigeon Falls Elementary and graduated from Whitehall High School where he was a lineman on the football team and catcher for the baseball team. During his school years he was often a public speaker and master of ceremonies for many events, including reciting the Gettysburg Address at many Memorial Day cemetery services.
Upon graduation he joined the US Army and was stationed in Germany during the Korean War attaining the rank of sergeant and was honorably discharged on October 25, 1956. He earned a technical engineering degree from Chicago Technical College. He was employed by United Conveyor Corporation in Chicago as a draftsman. Cordell married Sonja Fay Sielaff on May 25, 1957, in Pleasantville, Wisconsin. In 1959, he and Sonja moved to Whitehall where they had two daughters.
He was manager of Trempealeau County DHIA and was also an auctioneer. He had many hobbies including bronzing baby shoes, building and flying remote control planes, recording with the new technology of reel-to-reel tape recording, and fiberglassing his own boat that he named the Nautilus. He and Sonja and his daughters spent many weeknight evenings boating and waterskiing in Blair and weekends in Hatfield and on Lake Eau Claire. In 1965 they moved to Osseo, Wisconsin, where they owned the bowling alley together with Sonja’s sister and husband. Cordell also sold insurance for four years until his health declined due to MS and he was no longer able to work. He was a member of the Osseo American Legion Carl Nelson Post 324.
He is survived by his wife Sonja; his children Natalie (Steve) Velie and Lori (the late Dean) Sanders; grandchildren Josh (Rachel) Velie, Danielle (Mark) Prissel, Tairyn (Ryan Frank) Velie, Bret (Miranda Hartje) Sanders, and Kara (Trevor Howells) Sanders; great-grandchildren Brynleigh Prissel and Beckett Prissel. He is also survived by sisters-in-law Anne (Loren) Herbert, Rosemary (Sielaff) Berg, Georgia (Sielaff) Nelson, and Kathryn (Sielaff) Thompson; and brother-in-law George Sielaff.
He was preceded in death by his parents Lillie and Bruno Herbert; brothers Wilbert, Dwight, Dwaine, and Loren; sisters Ruth Paulson, Anna Lou Bloch, and baby Ayres.
A private service will be held with military honors at the Osseo Evangelical Lutheran Church on Saturday, January 29, 2022, with Pastor Terry Lorenz officiating.
The Schiefelbein Funeral Home of Osseo is assisting the family with arrangements.
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