Larson, Mary Magdalene (Zimmerman) -- 1931 - 2009
SAEWERT, ZIMMERMAN, LARSON, MAKAR, BRAZELL
Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 12/18/2009 at 18:26:04
Mary M. Larson, 78, of Silver Spring, MD, formerly of Decorah, died Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Collingswood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Rockville, MD. Funeral services will be held Monday, November 30 at 11 a.m. at Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon, with Pastor Samantha Houser officiating. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may call from 3-6 p.m. Sunday, November 29 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon.
Mary Magdalene Larson was born September 14, 1931 in Church. She was the daughter of Frederick Christian and Marie Amelia (Saewert) Zimmerman. Mary was baptized at the Congregational Church in Churchtown and confirmed at Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon. She graduated from Waukon High School in 1949.
May 1, 1951 she married Harry Alfred Larson at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. Mary and Harry farmed together in Winneshiek County until 1980, when Harry retired and they moved to Decorah. In addition to working on the farm, Mary was a clerk at the Winneshiek County Auditor’s office and then a secretary at the Iowa Department of Human Services office in Decorah. She retired from her government job to care for Harry during the last few years of his life.
Always having loved her work, Mary was active as a volunteer in her retirement years. She volunteered at the Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, and the Social Security Administration office in Decorah. In July 2009, Mary moved to Rockville, MD to be closer to her daughter.
Mary was an active member of Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon, where she was a member of ladies fellowship, circle, and sang in the choir. Mary loved music and entertained her many friends and relatives playing the accordion. She also played the piano and organ and played coronet in her high school marching band. Mary enjoyed playing cards, especially euchre, five hundred, and rummy. She was an avid reader, making regular trips to the public library to check out the latest non-fiction titles. Biographies were a favorite.
Mary loved to travel and over the course of a lifetime she visited 48 of the 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. She especially enjoyed visits to Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, IL, and Atlanta, GA to see her son and trips to Texas and Washington, D.C. to visit her daughter. She adored her “grand dog”, Milo, her daughter’s Cairn terrier. Mary’s family was very important to her and she encouraged her children to continue their education even though it meant they might end up far away from home.
Survivors include her daughter, Susan (John) Larson-Makar of Rockville, MD; a sister, Wilma (James) Brazell of Harpers Ferry; a daughter-in-law, Patricia Larson of Blaine, MN; a sister-in-law, Nora Moen of Decorah; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Harry, who died in 1995; her son, Duane, who died in 2002; and a brother, Frederick Zimmerman, Jr.
Waukon, Iowa newspaper, THE STANDARD, November 25, 2009.
Contributor is not related and has no further information.
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