Obituaries

Jean Runia, age 93, of Tyler, Minnesota, died on Sunday, July 17, 2022, at the Sunrise Manor Nursing Home in Tyler, Minnesota. Jean Myrna Magnuson was born on August 11, 1928, to parents Richard and Bergitte (Madsen) Magnuson.

Dave Baack, 83, of Balaton, was born on June 16, 1939, in Slayton, MN, to Guy and Hazel (Reese) Baack. His early years were spent in Lake Wilson and Slayton, and in 1957 he graduated from Mankato High School. In 1960, Dave married Carol Robb and they had five children.

Jerome (Jerry) Douglas Johnson of Hadley, MN, passed away, peacefully, on June 24, 2022, at the age of 83. Jerry was armed with an easy-going charm & a sense of wit. He had a love of sports, especially Baseball, Golf & Fishing.

Darlene Constance Knakmuhs was born October 2, 1927, in Irene, South Dakota to Rasmus and Florence Paulson Juul. She grew up in Irene and attended country school. In 1953 she and her parents moved to Slayton, MN. Darlene started working at Ben Franklin, which later became Fremstad’s Variety. On January 2, 1977, she and John Knakmuhs were married in Slayton. They made their home in Slayton and Darlene continued to work at the variety store. John passed away on February 26, 1990. After the variety store closed Darlene retired. But that was short-lived, as a new variety store opened, Henry’s Hometown Variety, so Darlene returned to work.

Margie Lou Loosbrock was born on December 5, 1937, in Wenatchee, WA to Lloyd and Esther Sarazine Butler. Shortly after her birth the family moved to Bingham Lake, MN where Margie grew up. She graduated from Windom High School and attended Minnesota School of Business. On November 16, 1957, she and James Loosbrock were married at St. Francis Xavier Church in Windom. Following their marriage, they made their home in the St. Kilian area and raised their six children. Margie was the bookkeeper at the Farmer’s Union Coop in Lismore for 25 years as well as keeping books for James’s business. James passed away on June 4, 1996.

Elsie Marie Gustafson, the daughter of Ernest and Gussie (Minor) Kemmner, was born on March 9, 1930 on a farm near Brewster, MN. She grew up on farms in the Brewster and Kinbrae areas and attended country school. She attended Brewster and Fulda High Schools graduating from Fulda in 1948. Elsie was united in marriage to Kermith Gustafson on June 9, 1948 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brewster. After their marriage they lived on the family farm near Kinbrae until 1961 when they moved to a farm north of Heron Lake, MN. In 1965 they returned to the family farm near Kinbrae where they lived and raised their children. Elsie remained on the farm after Kermith’s death in January of 1999. Elsie moved to the Maple View Apartments in December of 2016 and later to the Maple Lawn Nursing Home.

Marvin J. Kleven, age 79 of rural Walnut Grove, passed away Thursday, June 23, 2022 at Westbrook Good Samaritan Society.

Jerry Marco was born on December 31, 1943, in Sibley, Iowa to Henry and Alice Marco Marco. He grew up in Bigelow, MN and attended Worthington High School. On February 6, 1982, he and Kathy Vosberg were married in Worthington. Following their marriage, they made their home in Worthington where Jerry worked for Armour until 1984. They then moved to Carrollton, TX where Jerry worked as a plumber and later at Landlock Seafood Company. He continued working for Landlock when they moved to The Colony, TX. Wanting to get closer to family they moved to Hutchinson, MN where Jerry worked for HTI Technology, and they owned and operated J and K Crafts Ideas. Retirement found them moving to Big Stone, SD before making their home in Slayton, MN in 2021. Jerry passed away at the Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD on Thursday, June 23, 2022, at the age of 78. He was a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Slayton and the Eagles Club in Worthington. Jerry enjoyed spending time with family, visiting with friends, fishing, flea markets, rummage sales, gardening, woodworking, cooking, and baking.

Mary Ann (Surprenant) Steffen passed away on June 10th, 2022, at Auburn Home in Waconia, MN after a brief battle with lung cancer. Mary was born on October 17th, 1941, in New Ulm, MN to Ralph and Augusta (Dresow) Surprenant.

Dean Richard Lanners was born on October 18, 1965, in Slayton, Minnesota to Richard and Patricia “Pat” Illg Lanners. He grew up on the family farm southwest of Iona, MN and graduated from Fulda High School in 1984. Dean then attended Canby Vo-Tech for Agriculture Production Management. Following graduation, he returned to the family farm and farmed with his father. Dean eventually took over the family farm when his dad retired. Dean passed away at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the age of 56. He was a member of St. Columba Church in Iona. He also was a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters, a past member of the Iona Fire Department, as well as an honorary member of the Iona VFW Post where he played the trumpet for many years. Dean enjoyed tending to his crops, playing cards with the guys, trips to area casinos, traveling to Las Vegas with friends, his two cats, Mittens and John Deere, and sprint car races. Dean enjoyed visiting with people and could talk to anyone about anything. Survivors include his three sisters and their spouses, Lynne (Ed) Herrmann of Delano, MN,