All Obituaries

   Gordon Lester Gudmundson, 99, died peacefully on Saturday, November 19, 2022, in Youngtown, Arizona. Gordon Gudmundson was born June 17, 1923. He married Selvina Erickson in 1952, and had one child, Dave. They were later divorced. In 1981, he married Lucille Siefert and they enjoyed their retirement in Sun City, Arizona. Lucille passed away in 2019 and Gordy continued to live in Arizona.     He served in the Army for a short period of time until coming home to work on...

   Marjorie L. Drake, 85, of Lanesboro, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.    Marjorie Lou Thompson was born July 8, 1937 in Lanesboro to Corday and Betsey Thompson.  She graduated from Lanesboro High School in 1955.  On January 29, 1955, Marge married David R. Drake, her beloved husband of 57 years before his passing in 2013. A lifelong resident of Lanesboro, she was very active in the community, working as the City Clerk for many...

   Allen “Al” Patterson, 61, of Rochester, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Methodist Campus in Rochester.    Allen Robert Patterson was born November 15, 1960 in Rochester, to Robert and Donna Mae (Kvarme) Patterson.  Al grew up in Chatfield and graduated from Chatfield High School in 1980.  After high school Allen worked at John Adams Middle School in Rochester as a custodian.     Al...

    Jeanette Carolyn Berge, 93, of Lanesboro, passed away peacefully from cancer and dementia on Monday, October 17, at Stewartville Care Center. She was born February 12, 1929, in Fillmore, Minnesota, to Fred and Lillian Crowson. She grew up a country girl in the Wykoff, Fillmore and Chatfield areas, moving often with her parents to wherever our Grandpa Crowson found work for area farmers. She attended several different country schools and finished her schooling in...

Donna Jean (Baier) Cramer, 83, of Chatfield, MN passed away peacefully on October 13, 2022. Donna was born on January 6, 1939 to Louie A. Baier Jr. and Mildred (Drinkall) Baier in Chatfield, MN. She was raised on the family farm, located in west Chatfield, which was the home of her parents, grandparents Louie Sr. and Bertha Baier, and great grandparents Frank and Wilhelmina Baier, who purchased the land after immigrating from Germany in the mid-1800s. Frank and Wilhelmina owned and operated...

Terry Lee Odle, 74, of rural Chatfield, Minnesota entered the presence of his Lord on October 13, 2022.  Terry was born in Fremont, Nebraska on February 24, 1948 as the second of three sons to Merida and Charlotte (Osburn) Odle. Terry’s growing up years were spent on the family farm near Herman, Nebraska. He was a 1966 graduate of Hooper High School in Hooper, Nebraska. After high school Terry attended Universal Trade School in Omaha. Terry worked as a mechanic and in construction...

   Gerald “Jerry” M. Clemens, 85, of Chatfield, passed away peacefully at the Chosen Valley Care Center surrounded by his family on Monday, October 3, 2022.    Jerry was born February 9, 1937, in Rochester, MN, to Charles and Margaret (Healy) Clemens. He grew up in Chatfield, MN and graduated from Chatfield High School in 1954. On November 25, 1958 he married Shirley Strande and together they raised their eleven children on the family’s century...

   Spencer Gustav Shaw passed away Friday September 30th 2022, at the Chatfield Care Center surrounded by family.  Spencer was born June 26th 1934 to William (Bill) and Edna (Stender) Shaw, in Jordan Township in Chatfield, MN.     He attended rural country school and attended Chatfield high school where he graduated.  He worked for Chatfield Dairy as a house to house delivery milkman, he also worked at Huckstad Meats.  He met the love of his life...

   Steven George Sobieniak, a nationally known maker of bamboo fly fishing rods and owner of Root River Rod Co., a full-service fly shop in Lanesboro, Minn., died Thursday Sept. 22 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 67.    He was born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and lived in Lewiston, N.Y., for many years. He began fishing as a boy, and learned fly fishing from his father, who was an avid...

   MaryAnn Heidtke passed away on September 21, 2022, at the Chosen Valley Care Center, where she was currently residing.  She was born on December 23, 1944 in Preston MN, to Walter and Erna (Busitzky) Heidtke.  She attended and graduated as salutatorian, from Wykoff High School in 1962.  She then attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, MN, majoring in Political Science.  She eventually moved to Belen, New Mexico and in recent years moved back to live in...