Tolman, Christine M. (Mrs. William E.) 1917-2007

TOLMAN, MIKKELSON, NELSON

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/24/2013 at 12:29:10

CHRISTINE M. TOLMAN
Mrs. Christine Tolman, age 89, of Orange City, passed away on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at the Orange City Area Health System.

There will be a funeral service on Saturday, January 13, at 1:30pm, at the American Reformed Church in Orange City. The Rev. Keith Krebs will officiate. Interment will follow at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City.

Christine Mattie was born on April 5, 1917, in rural Westbrook, Minnesota, the daughter of Andrew and Lena (Mikkelson) Nelson. She received her education in the Westbrook schools. Her mother died when she was six years old, so after graduation, she helped her father on the farm. She also worked as a waitress.

On May 3, 1941, she married William Edward Tolman in Ponca, Nebraska. While “Bill” was working at Pearl Harbor and on the Alaskan Pipeline, she and her daughter lived on her parents' family farm. After World War II, they moved to Alton for a short time, but made their home in Orange City for the rest of their lives.
In 1955, Mrs. Tolman went to college for the first time, graduating from Northwestern College in Orange City in 1957, with a teaching certificate. She taught school in Orange City, Maurice, Hospers, and Remsen. Mr. Tolman passed away on September 28, 1997, in Orange City.

In November of 2006, she became a resident of the Heritage House Nursing Home in Orange City.
Christine was a member of the American Reformed Church, where she participated in the Reformed Church Women's Ministries. She enjoyed embroidering, garage sales, and in earlier years, reading.

Survivors include her daughter, Kay Tolman, of West Des Moines; her son, Alan (Teri) Tolman, of Buffalo, Wyoming; four grandchildren, David (Anne) Oesch, of Alton, Missouri; Troy (Kim) Tolman, of Spirit Lake; Sheila (Ed Wallick) Tolman, of Buffalo; and Mary (Jack) Blackburn, of Springfield, Missouri; seven great-grandchildren, Mary Alice and Benjamin Oesch, Gage, Parker, and Carson Tolman, and Jeb and Oliver Blackburn; and a sister-in-law, Margaretta Cook, of Le Mars.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by five sisters, Christina Nelson, Anna Grams, Clara Larson, Inga Hubin, and Mildred Kosel; and a brother, Alfred Nelson.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home, Orange City, IA., obit.