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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Leverne Elfreda Gustafson In loving memory

Some of you may already know especially if you follow me on twitter that my Grandma passed away last week. It was a very sad day to loose such a wonderful person. Below is the obituary and following with some of my own thoughts.


Leverne Elfreda Gustafson was born May 16, 1927 to Frank and Esther (Pearson) Anderson in Mille Lacs County. She grew up near Estes Brook and attended country school. She married Verlin Gustafson on June 14, 1946 at the Estes Brook Evangelical Free Church. After their marriage, they lived in Rockford, IL for about four years, before returning to the home farm near Oak Park. Leverne worked at Fingerhut for 15 years and then as a nurses aide for 20 years at the Foley Nursing Home and Milaca Elim Home. In 1981, they left the farm and moved to Milaca. In 2000, Leverne and Verlin moved to the Hi-Rise Apartments in Milaca. She was a member of the Estes Brook Evangelical Free Church where she taught Sunday School, led Bible Study, served as a deaconess and was the chairperson of the WMS. She enjoyed weaving rugs, embroidery and crocheting. Leverne passed away on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at Fairview Northland Regional Hospital in Princeton.

She is survived by her children, Donald (Cheryl) of Coon Rapids, Donna (John) Meyers of Milaca, Bruce (Sandy) of Granada, MN, James (Barbara) of Henderson, NV, Curtis (Deborah) of Libertyville, IL and Connie (Roland) Wallestad of Ramsey; 21 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; siblings, Eldon Anderson of Milaca, Doris (Rueben) Northway of Foreston, Verlin (Elanor) Anderson of Rockford, IL, Phyllis (Elmer) Warolin of Milaca, Alice (Ben) Johnson of Pickeral, WI and Virgil (Mary Jo) Anderson of Fountain Hills, AZ; sister-in-law, Ione Gustafson of Rockford, IL; also by many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Verlin in 2006.

My Grandma was very a very loving and caring person who accepted everyone into her family.

I didn’t get to see Grandma very much, and as I got older it was harder and harder to find the time with college, a new job, a wife, and recently children. When I did visit it was always very memorable. Here are some of the things that I remember about Grandma.

My brother Ryan and I would stay with them every so often and spend a few days at a time with Grandma and Grandpa.

I remember eating corn flakes for breakfast every time we were there.

At least once every time we stayed we would have vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce (out of the can) and peanuts on top. (To this day that is my favorite way to enjoy ice cream).

Grandma and Grandpa weaved rugs out of old clothes. I remember helping cut the clothes in strips, sewing them into a longer strips and balling them up so grandma could weave them on her giant loom. We even had the chance to use the loom few times with Grandma’s guidance of course. (Because they cut up so many different types of clothing Grandma had more buttons than I had ever seen in my life. Jars and tins full of them).

Grandma and Grandpa also cleaned the local dentist’s office and Phone Company. Ryan and I tagged a long and helped out as much as we could. I was so much fun!

Grandma was always working on some sort of crochet project.

I remember Grandma playing the electric organ and I was so fascinated.

How could I forget Grandmas most wonderful chocolate chip cookies! When I lived in ID with my Dad they were the best treat we ever received form any one.

At Christmas she would get us a pair of gloves and something with our name on it (most of the time it was pencils I always wondered how she had our names put on them).

Grandma’s loud laugh and knee slap were unforgettable.

The record player was setup in the house so you could hear music both upstairs and down at the same time (it just amazed me). Ryan and I would always request a couple of songs and Grandma would gladly play them for us.

The phone how can I forget the phone. Grandma had one of those old crank phones from when they lived on the farm. She told me a few stories about how each person had their own ring set (for instance Grandma and Grandpa’s was two short rings and one long ring. The neighbors ring was one short ring and two long ones). She said that anyone in the neighborhood could listen to everyone else phone calls if they wanted too.

One of my favorite parts of going to their house was playing muggins here is a version of it http://www.lots-of-kids-games.com/muggins.html (Grandma always had her own special deck of muggins cards made up). It was a blast we would play for at least an hour every time.

Grandma’s rhubarb crunch was the best, need I say more!

I know there are more memories but these are all I can think of off the top of my head. Thanks for listening!

Grandma Leverne RIP we will miss you.



Thanks


Ben G

6 comments:

Albert Quackenbush said...

So sorry for your loss, Ben. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers. Sounds like she was an amazing woman.

Michael Agneta said...

Ben - I'm glad you are able to remember and reflect on all of the good times you spent with your Grandmother. Make sure to document them somewhere special so your kids can "know" her as well once they get a little bit older.

My condolences to you and your family.

Karen Thomason/Gordon Setter Crossing said...

Nice tribute. She sounds like the perfect Grandma! My condolences on the loss of such a wonderful person in your life.

Anonymous said...

I just found out and I'm very sorry to hear about your loss.

Whitetail Woods Blog / Muzzleloader Testing

Kirk Mantay said...

Sorry for your loss - my wife and I lost our last two grandparents (grandmothers) last year while the wifey was pregnant. We were close with both of them and it was hard to see them go. When we met in 1998, we had 5 grandparents. Now we have none.

Keep her memory alive & remember to tell her story!

Stephanie said...

Ben, the memories are great! I miss grandma so much, as well as grandpa. Just think, they are up in heaven together, and grandma is probably trying to get grandpa to play a game of muggins! haha. He is probably still refusing, but I'm sure they are so happy! Love you!

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