John Almlie, 86

John H. Almlie, age 86, of Fountain Hills, AZ, formerly of Tracy passed away on December 19, 2014 at his home in Fountain Hills.  A Memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at Tracy Lutheran Church in Tracy.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at church.  Burial will be in the Tracy Cemetery with a luncheon to follow back at the church.  The Almlie-Horvath Funeral Home in Tracy is caring for the family.

Neil Horsman, 84

Neil Deon Horsman of rural Tracy, farmer, history buff, devoted husband and father, passed away Friday, June 5, 2015.  Memorial services were held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at the Tracy Area Funeral Home.    A private family burial will be held in the Hoiland Cemetery at a later date.  Memorials are preferred to the National Parkinson Foundation in lieu of flowers.  Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice.com.  Stephens Funeral Service - Tracy Area Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Neil was born and raised in rural Tracy; and lived within a 2-mile radius of where he grew up. 

Neil’s first love was his wife, Millie Bartlett.  They got married in 1954 and recently celebrated a milestone anniversary of 60 years. Neil always enjoyed telling his children and grandchildren that he married “the love of his life”.

Neil loved everything about farming – especially riding his International Harvester MTA tractor.  He enjoyed seeing the crops grow and monitoring the rain gauge.  His kids liked to call him an arm-chair meteorologist.  Even after he retired, he and Millie would drive around to local farms and check the fields out.  Neil enjoyed going to the Butterfield Threshing Bee every year, where he and Millie would enjoy the tractor parade and eating ice cream.  He prided himself on having an immaculate lawn and taught his children, grandchildren (and wife) the “correct” way of mowing the grass.

During his retirement, Neil enjoyed reading the Bible and underlining his favorite verses.  He also served as Deacon at the Church of Christ for many years.  

Neil never watched a Western movie he didn’t like and in his last few years, he was a devoted fan of RFD-TV, whose programming is focused on the culture of farming and agriculture. 

Neil is survived by his loving wife, Millie, and their children Mark (and Donna) Horsman of Watertown, SD, Kathy (and David) Wilking of Tracy, Sherrie (and Todd) Cambronne of Tracy, Wayne (and Jenny) Horsman of Minneapolis and Laurie Horsman of Manhattan, NY, 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren (and one on the way), siblings Margie (and Jim) Sorenson and Virginia Stahn. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter Julie Horsman and brother David Horsman.

Ardyce Johnson, 86

Ardyce Mary Johnson, age 86 of Tracy, passed away Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at Prairie View Senior Living in Tracy.  Private family services were held.  Private family burial was in the Tracy Cemetery.  Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice.com.  Stephens Funeral Service - Tracy Area Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Ardyce Mary (Moat) Johnson was born May 11, 1929 on the family farm in Balaton, Minnesota, to Harvey and Martha (Anderson) Moat.  She was baptized in the Lutheran faith and attended country school near Balaton. 

She married Gordon Johnson in 1950 and they were married for 46 years.  While living in Garvin, she was a stay at home mom and spent most of her years babysitting for area children and cleaning homes.  In 1985, she and Gordon moved to Tracy.  Before she became legally blind, she enjoyed crocheting, sewing, and embroidery. 

Grateful for sharing her life are her daughter, JoAnn (Charles) Majeres and granddaughter Melissa (Matt) Gleisner; son Jerry and his children Samantha and Zachary Johnson; sister Arlene Johansen of Slayton; and brother Wayne Moat of Silver Bay. 

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Gordon in 1996, and six siblings.

Gordon Schmidt, 69

Funeral Services for Gordon Charles Schmidt will be held on Thursday, June 11 at 1:00 p.m.  The life celebration will be held at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings. The location of the celebration will be outside of building 25 by the gardens; the gardens that were groomed and maintained by dad. After the celebration, there will be snacks and drinks in the home’s front lobby located just across the street from the gardens. If weather does not cooperate, the celebration will be moved to the gymnasium. Address: 
1200 East 18th Street 
Hastings, Minnesota 55033.

Final resting place will be at the St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Milroy, MN on Friday, June 12 at 1 p.m. The ceremony will be located at the cemetery with cake, coffee and drinks afterward in the St. Michael’s basement at 
200 Euclid Avenue 
Milroy, MN.

Flowers can be sent to either address; however we ask that in lieu of flowers, that plants (vegetables and fruit) and planting flowers be sent to the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings, or donations can be made to the home in Gordon’s honor. For questions or information on donating, please contact Dan Jordan at (651) 539-2442 and visit the Hastings Giving Guide for ideas on how to give: http://mn.gov/mdva/homes/hastings/hastingsgivingguide.jsp#.

Ruby Yochem, 95

Ruby Sylvia Yochem, 95 of Dovray passed away Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at Sanford Sioux Falls Medical Center.  Funeral services were held on Monday, June 8 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Dovray.  Burial was in Our Savior’s Lutheran Cemetery.  Online condolences may be sent at www.stephensfuneralservice.com.  Stephens Funeral Service - Westbrook Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements. 

Ruby Sylvia Yochem was born May 7, 1920 in Dovray Township, Murray County, MN, to Ingvald and Regina (Oiom) Iverson.  She was baptized and confirmed at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Dovray.  She attended Dovray public school. 

On April 10, 1944, Ruby married John Yochem at the parsonage in Westbrook.  Together, they made their home on the farm near Dovray.  Ruby lived there her entire life, until entering the nursing home in February of this year. 

Ruby is survived by her children: Ronda Swenson of Evergreen, CO, Candace (Terry) Sjoberg of Minneapolis, Jon Yochem of Minneota; 5 grandchildren.  She is also survived by seven great-grandchildren; sisters Iola Bergman of Princeton, and Helen Iverson of Dovray; and numerous nieces and nephews. 

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband John, and sisters Hazel Bergman and Vonnie Hollingsworth.