MORTENSON, Mildred E.

MORTENSON, PETERSON, STEWART, ERLANDSON, SANDERS, RUH, JACOBSON, JOHNSON, STEIBER

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 9/12/2006 at 11:24:14

Mildred E. Mortenson

CHEROKEE, Iowa -- Mildred E. Mortenson, 93, of Cherokee passed away Thursday, July 13, 2006, at Countryside Estates in Cherokee.

Services will be 1:30 p.m. Monday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, with the Rev. Jim Steen officiating. Burial will be in Good Hope Cemetery. There will be a family prayer service at 1:15 p.m. Monday at the church. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee.

Mildred was born Jan. 7, 1913, in Cherokee County, Iowa, the daughter of Frans and Anna (Peterson) Mortenson. She grew up on a farm in Silver Township, where she attended a rural school and graduated from Cherokee High School in 1930. She attended Iowa States Teacher's College for one year, then taught at a rural school for four years. She then returned to Iowa State Teacher's College (University of Northern Iowa), where she received a two-year certificate and later her bachelor of arts degree in the summer of 1938. All her years of teaching were in Iowa. In addition to rural school, she taught in Mechanicsville, Sac City and Sioux City for a total of 45 years. The last 35 years were in Sioux City. She received her masters of arts degree from the University of Minnesota, attending classes in the summers.

During her years of teaching in Sioux City, she was an active member of a number of groups and organizations including the national, state and local Education Association, the Association of University Women, the Association of Childhood Education and the Delta Kappa Gamma Society. She held offices and served on numerous committees in all these groups.

Since she retired, she had been a member of the Retired Teachers' group both in Sioux City and Cherokee County. She was a member of the Book Club and several bridge groups. During her years of teaching and retirement, she traveled in the United States and made three trips abroad.

She was an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the women's organizations of the church. She served in numerous capacities in the church and on a number of committees. While in Sioux City, she was a member of Augustana Lutheran Church.

She is survived by a brother and his wife, Robert and Lorraine Mortenson of Cherokee; a sister, Dorothy Stewart of Davenport, Iowa; a sister-in-law, Gladys Mortenson of Cherokee; a brother-in-law, Warren Erlandson of Wakefield, Neb.; 11 nieces and nephews, Richard Mortenson, Frank Stewart, Janet Stewart, Ann (Stewart) Sanders, Jeff Stewart, Nancy (Stewart) Ruh, Tom Mortenson, LuAnn (Mortenson) Jacobson, Joel Mortenson, Jody (Mortenson) Johnson and Linda (Erlandson) Steiber; 19 grandnieces and grandnephews; a great-grandniece; and a great-grandnephew.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Everett and Walter Mortenson; a sister, Frances Erlandson; sisters-in-law, Helen Mortenson and Mary Mortenson; and a brother-in-law, Harold Stewart.