Obituaries

Bruce Gerber was born on May 21, 1957, in Slayton, Minnesota to Donald and Thresa Bruns Gerber. He grew up in Iona, MN and graduated from Slayton High School in 1975. Following high school Bruce attended Jackson Vo-Tech for autobody, graduating in 1977. In April 1984 he and Eileen Freeburg Braun were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Slayton. Following their marriage, they made their home in Slayton. Bruce worked as a carpenter for several construction companies in the area most recently Haecherl Construction. Bruce passed away unexpectedly at his home in Slayton on Monday, July 24, 2023, at the age of 66. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Slayton. Bruce’s greatest joy in life was his kids and grandkids. Bruce enjoyed time with his family, shooting pool with his many friends, and his indescribable collection of beer mugs, sports memorabilia, and CD’s.

James “Jim” Frederick Troyer, age 82 of Dovray, passed away Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at Windom Good Samaritan Society. A private family service will be held at the family home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Humane Society or the charity of your choice. Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice. com. Stephens Funeral Service - Westbrook Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Margaret Paula Larson, age 80, of Ellsworth, MN died peacefully in Slayton on July 24, 2023, after a short battle with cancer. Margaret was wellknown for her ready smile, generous heart, sense of humor, and dedication to her family, friends, and students.

Taylor Joy Krosschell was born January 17, 1993 in Belem, Para, Brazil. On December 2, 1994 she was placed in the hearts of her parents Roger and Tami Krosschell. She and her new brother, Brett soon called Chandler, MN their home. Taylor was baptized at Chandler Christian Reformed Church on February 19, 1995. She went on to attend Chandler Christian School and graduated from Southwest Christian High School in 2012. She attended the University of Sioux Falls for one year. Taylor worked as a CNA at various places including Edgebrook Care Center, putting her passion for caring for others to work. Taylor loved music, especially praise songs, and time spent at the lake relaxing, skiing, tubing and wakeboarding.

Gordie DeGreeff was born on October 20, 1937, in Slayton, Minnesota to Nicholas and Edna Graf Lentz. She grew up in Slayton and graduated from Slayton High School in 1955. Following graduation Gordie worked at the Red Owl Store and Central Telephone Co. On April 25, 1960, she and Peter “Pete” DeGreeff were married at St. Ann’s Church in Slayton. Following their marriage, they made their home in Slayton until 1961 when they moved to the DeGreeff family farm near Chandler, MN and raised their six children. Gordie worked at M & M Distributing for a short time. In 1995 they retired and moved to Slayton. Gordie was an accomplished seamstress working on both big and small jobs for many area brides, prom goers, community members and farmers. Pete passed away on August 28, 2018. Gordie passed away on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at her home in Slayton at the age of 85. She was a member of St. Mary ‘s Church in Lake Wilson, MN where she was active in the CCW and taught CCD. Gordie enjoyed dancing, baking, sewing, needlework, quilting, yardwork, and her flower gardens. Gordie loved being a grandma and great-grandma and always had cookies and ice cream for the kids. Gordie adored her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, she always said her family was her everything.

Don Buldhaupt was born on June 4, 1933, in Slayton, Minnesota to George and Elsie Dettmer Buldhaupt. He grew up on the family farm and graduated from Lake Wilson High School in 1951. Don enlisted in the United State Army on May 20, 1953, serving in Germany. On October 9, 1953, he and Joyce Voss were married at St. John’s Lutheran Church in rural Hadley, MN. Following their marriage Joyce was able to join Don in Europe. As a young couple they were able to enjoy many wonderful adventures exploring Europe. Upon their return to the states, in 1955, they settled on the family farm near Hadley, MN where they farmed and raised their three children. Don farmed with his father and brother, Robert, then with his son, Mark, and nephew, Jim and finally with his greatnephew, Mike. Don retired in 1998 and they moved to Lake Wilson. Joyce passed away on September 18, 2012. Don remained in Lake Wilson until 2020 when he moved to Ridge View Estates in Pipestone, MN. Don passed away there on March 17, 2023, at the age of 89. He was a member Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lake Wilson, MN where he served on the Church Council, and as a Sunday School Superintendent. Don was a charter member of the Lake Wilson Lions Club, and a member of the Lake Wilson American Legion Post. Don served as Township Board Supervisor and on the Lake Wilson Elevator Board. Don enjoyed spending time with family, and woodworking. Don built many construction and farm equipment pieces out of wood.

Michael Bohmer died on June 25, 2023 at 6pm. He was born on May 17th 1955 to Marcelline (Olson) and Robert Bohmer in Minneapolis, MN. He was the 7th born child out of 9. He grew up in Minneapolis and attended Marshall High School where he dropped out in 10th grade. He later earned his GED while serving time. He was in the US Navy from 1973 to 1975 spending time in Vietnam and was honorably discharged. He was known as a lover and a fighter. You were lucky to have him on your side and if you got on his bad side you better hope you don’t cross paths. Family was the greatest of all things to him especially his grandkids. He raised his 2 boys as a single father Michael Shane and Bobby Lee. Later came Misty and Marcie. He also was step dad to Jessica and Eric and Pops to Matt Baer, Ryan Wilhelmy, Jesse DeCarlo, Briana Bruzer and many more as he treated everyone like family. He was a man of vast knowledge who knew how to fix anything and everything. He was a pack rat that knew where every last item was, even on his death bed he was directing his kids to find things he wanted before he passed. The thing about being a pack rat is when someone needed a tool or a part you can almost guarantee he had it and he’d give it to ya for a fair price. He’d let ya borrow tools if needed but if you didn’t return, that would be your last time borrowing anything. “Don’t marry that tool,” he’d say. The last 2 years of Mike’s life were rough, he was diagnosed with emphysema which took his ability to do the things he enjoyed (working on anything bikes or mechanical). If you knew Mike you knew he was outside day or night in his garage tinkering on something or out at garage sales looking for the next big deal. He and his boys moved to Slayton, MN in 2010 a little out of desperation (lease was up and times were hard) and a little to be closer to grand kids. He found his place down there in small town USA from being a big city boy his entire life he really loved small town living. Word of mouth traveled fast that he could fix anything and didn’t charge an arm and a leg so people flocked to him and he became well loved. All the kids in town knew that if their bikes needed anything good old Bike Mike would fix them for free as long as the kids were respectful. He leaves behind a legacy of being real, being fair and working hard.

Anders Paul Pedersen died on Saturday, June 24th, 2023, comfortably at home in Slayton, MN. He was born on June 17, 1963, in San Diego, CA to Frances (Larson) and Henry Pedersen. The family lived in California, Midway Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Kentucky. As a youth, he attended Birnamwood Church Camp for many years and worked there during college. Church camp was always a source of colorful stories full of adventures, friends, and spiritual insights. After flunking out of the University of Texas he pulled himself together, grew some maturity, and in 1986 he graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a self-created bachelor’s degree in psychology and classics in preparation for ministry. He then graduated with a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He did a term of Pastoral Clinical Education in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic Methodist Hospital. At Mayo, he met his wife of 32 years, Heidi (Gray) Pedersen. They were engaged by the end of the term and continued to be a great match and an amazing team from then on. They raised beautiful, above average children – Harriet Pedersen (Dubuque, IA), Haakon Pedersen (Fredericksburg, VA) and Nils Pedersen (Norfolk, VA). His Dad-skills were also far above average, though belatedly appreciated by the children given how prone he was to eye roll inducing movie quotes, dad jokes, and singing ‘there’s AAAl-ways tomorrow.’ Anders (Andy) was a truly all around super-duper human being, who touched many lives. He was a Presbyterian (USA) Minister. His career began as a pastor at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth, MN for 3 years. After that, he followed in his father’s footsteps and entered the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a chaplain. He was made for working in the Federal prison system (Sheridan OR, Ray Brooke NY, Washington DC)– he had a captive audience for his sermons! He found enjoyment in most aspects of his job, especially accompanying Protestant Christian inmates and staff on their spiritual journey and facilitating access to religious practice for every religion imaginable. He especially enjoyed learning about the Native American and Asatru faiths, eventually becoming the Federal expert on Asatru. During his final years with the Bureau, he worked in the Washington DC headquarters likely spending equal time playing pranks on coworkers and passing on his enthusiasm and expertise to Bureau chaplains in trainings. He was initiated to the beautiful region of the Adirondacks while a student pastor at the Raquette Lake and Inlet churches. He later spent 17 years living in Saranac Lake, NY while he worked at the prison in Ray Brooke. Though he worked hard in the prison, his real joy was spending energy in the outdoors: biking, crosscountry skiing, camping, hiking, canoeing, fire-wood stacking, sledding, fishing, and running. Sun, rain, winter, mud season, black fly season, and fall could all find him riding his bike to work. He was a ski ‘coach’ for little kids at Dewey Ski Center and taught them the Viking war cry for doing ladders (he really got a kick out of that). He liked skiing so much that he became a ski patrol volunteer at Mt. VanHovenberg. The lack of snow was one of his main complaints once he received his call from God to move to Washington DC. While in the DC area, he learned how to sail with his son, Nils. They had fun earning their Basic Keelboat Sailing certificates through the American Sailing Association.

Bonita Fuhrmann. Funeral services were held at St.

.