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Obituaries from the week of October 15, 2003

Harley Amundson, 77

Funeral services were held today, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Dovray, for Harley Amundson of Avoca, MN. The Rev. Melba Smith officiated. Burial with military honors was in the church cemetery.

Born Feb. 13, 1926, on the family farm in Des Moines River Township in Murray County, he was the son of Emil and Minnie Busswitz Amundson. He married Mavis Ankrum on June 10, 1952, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Dovray. She died on July 10, 2002.

He grew up in Murray County where he attended country school. He graduated from Westbrook High School in 1944. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944 and served in the Philippines during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, he worked in St. Paul before returning to the family farm to work for his father and brother, Ardell. After marriage, they farmed south of Dovray for 13 years and purchased a farm one mile away. They retired from farming in 2001 and continued living on the farm. He also drove truck part-time for many years. He was an active lifelong member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church where he served on the church council. He belonged to the Dovray American Legion and was the Des Moines River Township supervisor for more than 25 years.

Harley died Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Surviving are one son, Gary (Pat) Amundson, Pequot Lakes; two daughters, Karen (Mark) Gust, East Grand Forks, and Marie (Jason) Erickson, Westbrook; one brother, Ardell Amundson, Avoca; and nine grandchildren.

The Totzke Funeral Home of Slayton handled the arrangements.

Victoria Blawa, 82

Funeral Services for Victoria "Vick" Blawa of Walnut Grove will be Saturday, Oct. 18 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Catholic church in Walnut Grove. Visitation will be Friday 5-8 p.m. at the church with a 7:30 p.m. prayer service. Visitation continues on Saturday one hour prior to the service.

Burial will in Calvary Cemetery, Walnut Grove.

Victoria Mary Blawa was born April 14, 1921 in Orleans, Minnesota to John and Mary(Kwiatkowski) Polejewski, one of five children. She spent her early years on a farm near Taunton, MN, graduating from Minneota High School in 1938.

Victoria was united in marriage to Harry Blawa on May 27, 1941, after which time they moved to Chicago, IL. Harry served a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in WW II. Vick and Harry remained in Chicago where Lois was born in 1946. A short time later they moved to Minneota, Minnesota to run a restaurant, until buying the Walnut Grove Cafe in 1949. They continued in the business until 1953, when Mary Jo was born. After this time Vick worked for Dr. Grefe, a position she held for decades. Vick was a terrific cook, a talent she shared with many.

Victoria Mary Blawa passed away on October 9, 2003 at the Tracy Nursing Home in Tracy, Minnesota at the age of 82 years, 5 months and 25 days.

She is survived by her children Lois and husband Jeff Bartz of Bloomington and Mary Joe and husband Steve Morasch of Sleepy Eye; grandchildren Treacy (Jim) Welch, Steve (Jennifer) Bartz, Amy Morasch, Ryan Morasch and Janice Haala and Lindsay Morasch; great grandchildren Jack Welch, Jaeda Morasch and Luke Welch; one sister Mary Ann Alcorn and husband Sandy and special friend Art Doubler.

She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband Harry in 1984, a sister Leona and two brothers Edward and Frank.

Helen L. Edwards, 93

Funeral services were held on Friday, Oct. 10, 2003 at Tracy Lutheran Church for Helen L. Edwards. Reverend Stephen Olson and Reverend Gary Gabel officiated. Pianist was Joel Edwards with Richard Stelter as organist.

Casket bearers were her grandchildren John Edwards, Jeff Edwards, Laurie Holyoak, Shannon Carrow, Dawn Castro, David Nelson, Joel Edwards, Mary Anne Shepard, Christy Lundberg, Russell Edwards, Rachael Wiley and Kristen Nelson.

Helen Leona Edwards was born March 17, 1910 to Frank and Anna (Holden) Halstenrud in Tracy, MN, Lyon County. She was Baptized on July 5, 1910 and Confirmed on August 3, 1924 at the Tracy Norwegian Lutheran Church. She attended Tracy Public Schools and graduated from Tracy High School. As a young woman, Helen worked in Tracy at several restaurants.

On March 7, 1936 Helen married Mervin Edwards at the Tracy parsonage. Over the years they made their home on various farms in and around the Tracy area. Helen was a homemaker and worked along side her husband on the farm. In the early 80's they moved into Tracy and in 1986 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. After her husband's death in 1991, with the help of her family she moved into the Twin Circle Apartments in Tracy. In 1999 Helen became a resident of the Tracy Nursing Home.

She was a past member of both the Tracy Norwegian Lutheran Church and the Hoiland Lutheran Church. She was a current member of Tracy Lutheran Church and was active in the church women's groups. Helen enjoyed cooking and baking, spending time at the Senior Center with friends playing cards, bingo and various other activities. She was a member of a 500 card club for many years.

On Monday, October 6, 2003 Helen entered the Tracy Hospital. She died in the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 7, at the age of 93.

Helen is survived by one daughter, Karen (Mike) Nelson of Maple Grove, MN; two sons, Donald (Judith) of Lincoln, NE and Leon (Dianna) of Cottonwood, MN; 12 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Her parents, husband, Mervin, four brothers and one sister preceded her in death.

Burial was in Hoiland Cemetery, Monroe, MN with the Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy handling the arrangements.

Imogene Starks, 88

Services for Imogene V. Starks, 88, formerly of Tracy were held at 2 p.m. Monday, October 13, 2003 at the Tracy United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Sunday at the Almlie Funeral Home in Tracy with a prayer service at 6:30 and will continue one hour prior to services at the church.

Imogene Vivian Starks was born Aug. 27, 1915, to Charles and Mary Ina (McClain) Veline on a farm in Sodus Township, Lyon County. She was baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith. She attended country school and later Tracy High School, graduating at the age of 16 in 1931. Imogene then attended Teacher's training at the Tracy Normal School. She attended Mankato State and then the University of Minnesota where she received her master's degree in Library Science.

In the mid-1930s, Imogene moved out to the Pendleton, OR, area where she worked as a librarian for both the city and school system. She then moved to Denver, CO in 1945, and became a bookkeeper for the Rio Grande Motorway.

On Oct 5, 1946, Imogene married Lyle Y. Starks in Scottsbluff, NE. They made their home in the Gering, NE area where she continued to work as a bookkeeper. In 1948, they moved to Chadron, NE where they owned and operated a plumbing business. In 1950, they moved to the Amiret area, and in 1958, Imogene went to work for the Marshall Public Library in charge of the children's library section where she worked for many years. Imogene and her husband moved to Tracy in 1996, and in January 2002 they became residents of the Covington Heights Nursing Home in Sioux Falls, SD.

She was a member of the Tracy United Methodist Church where she had been active in the ladies Circle. She was also a member of the Eastern Star and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was an avid reader, and in her early years in Lyon County she helped start up the Lyon County Book Mobile. She enjoyed spending time with her family and will be remembered by all that new her for her good sense of humor and her great kindness to others.

On Thursday, October 9, 2003, Imogene died at the McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 88.

She is survived by two daughters, Sonja (John) Lynch of Sioux Falls, and Bonne Starks of Eugene, OR; two grandchildren, Jason and Heather; and six great-grandchildren, Ian, Brionna, Micayla, Lane, Logan and Lucas.

Her parents preceded her in death.

Burial was at the Bethel Cemetery in Custer Township.

The Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy handled the arrangements.