Obituaries

Wilma Darlene (Carlson) Gray was born on the family farm in Murray County, Minnesota on September 9, 1933, to Oscar Lenard and Violet Mae (Coyle) Carlson. She grew up on the family farm ten miles north of Slayton, MN. Her schooling included District #89 Country School and Tracy High School. On November 19, 1950, she was united in marriage to Charles Gray, Sr. at the First Congregational Church in Garvin, MN. While Charles was serving his country in Korea, Wilma was home raising chickens and was able to save enough money to aid in building a new home on the family farm site. In 1958 they moved to a farm near Heron Lake, MN where they resided for five years before returning to Slayton. In 1983, they purchased the Country Host and Truck Stop. They ran this business until 1989. They then moved to an Angus cow/ calf farm in Cameron, MO. In 2004, they retired in Slayton. Retirement did not last long as Charles and Wilma decided to purchase rental properties in Slayton.

Beverly C. Van De Wiele, age 87 of Marshall, formerly of Tracy and Walnut Grove, passed away Monday, December 13, 2021 at Heritage Pointe Senior Living in Marshall.

David Erick Erickson, age 47, passed away Wednesday, December 1, 2021. David was born July 2, 1974.

Eldora Rae Van Nieuwenhuyzen was born on March 15, 1947, in Slayton, MN to Charles “Billy” and Arleen Ireton. She grew up in Slayton and graduated from Slayton High School in 1965. Just a few weeks after graduating high school, Dorie Ireton married Cordell Van Nieuwenhuyzen. They celebrated 56 years of marriage together. Following their marriage, they established their first home together in Chandler, MN where they welcomed their five children.

Kevin Strampe was born on December 9, 1957, in Slayton, Minnesota to Vernon and Beatrice Koopman Strampe. He grew up on the family farm southeast of Chandler, MN and graduated from Chandler-Lake Wilson High School in 1976. While in high school Kevin was active in 4-H, FFA and played basketball. Following graduation he attended Canby Vo-Tech for auto mechanics. He then went to work for Connell Chevrolet in Luverne and later for Pipestone Auto in Pipestone, MN. He then took a job building grain elevators throughout the upper Midwest until the early 1980’s when he moved to Woodward, OK to begin working in the oil fields. He started out as a roughneck and worked his way up. He started his own business with Stramp’s Oilfield Services hauling pipe and supplies for the oil companies and working for area banks doing repo work. Kevin passed away at his home in Woodward, OK on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at the age of 63. Kevin enjoyed attending motorcycle rallies, riding his Harley, collecting cars, trucks, and boats to fix-up and sell. Kevin was always up for a good time with family and friends and was known to be the life of the party.

Rogann Renee (Deslauriers, nee Kiihn) Peterson, age 50 of Tracy, formerly of Dovray, passed away Saturday, December 11, 2021 at Our House Hospice of Murray County in Slayton. Rogann was born November 20, 1971 in Westbrook, Minnesota to Roger and Eunice (Merkel) Kiihn.

Holt Thomas Engelkes, infant son of Greg Engelkes and Carissa Beldin was born on Monday, December 6, 2021, at the Pipestone Medical Center in Pipestone, MN. He passed away there on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

Chuck Rachuy was born on June 8, 1956, in Worthington, Minnesota to Elgie and Delores O’Neil Rachuy. Growing up on a farm near Brewster, MN until 1957 when the family moved to a farm near Slayton, MN. In 1963 they moved to the current family farm south of Slayton. Chuck graduated from Slayton High School in 1974. He remained on the farm helping his father, Elgie until he retired, and Chuck took over the farm. In addition to farming in 1998 Chuck started working at the Toro Plant in Windom, MN. In 2019, he retired due to a cancer diagnosis.

Maxine Silvernale was born on July 10, 1925, on the Fox Lake farm in Shetek Township, Murray County, Minnesota to Ephraim and Rose Vahlsing Noll. Maxine grew up on the farm until her family moved to Currie, MN. Maxine graduated from Tracy High School in 1943. Following graduation the family moved to Vancouver, WA where Maxine worked as a nurse’s aide at the Northern Permanente Hospital (the Kaiser Shipyard Hospital). When the war was over, they returned to Currie and Maxine worked at the Old Tracy Hospital as a nurse’s aide.

Katherine “Margaret” Konkol passed away on November 23, 2021, at the age of 88 at the Murray County Medical Center. She was born in Onamia, Minnesota, on October 25, 1933, the fifth of twelve children born to John and Katherine (Kertzman) Vander Heyden. Margaret grew up on the family farm and graduated from Onamia High School in 1950. She attended St. Cloud State Teacher’s College and became an elementary teacher. Margaret taught third grade in Kimball, Minnesota, and that is where she met her husband, Howard “Jake” Konkol, who taught there as well. Margaret and Jake were united in marriage on June 18, 1955, in Onamia Minnesota, in a double wedding ceremony with her sister, Frances. In 1957, Margaret and Jake moved to Slayton where they raised their six children. After their youngest child went to school, Margaret returned to teaching as a paraprofessional and playground supervisor until her retirement in 1994. Besides her love for her family, Margaret had many hobbies. She loved gardening, crocheting, playing bridge, working crossword puzzles and Sudoku. She especially loved traveling and enjoyed going to Branson, Missouri, to listen to Daniel O’Donnell. She visited all fifty states and all Canadian Provinces. Her Catholic faith was very important to her as she taught CCD for six years, attended Bible study classes, was a member of Catholic Daughters, the prayer chain, and volunteered for coffee hour every Friday morning after church services. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary. Margaret also taught herself to play the piano and accordion. Along with her many hobbies, she always found time to attend her children’s and grandchildren’s school/sporting events and loved spending time with family. Margaret was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. It was her greatest blessing.