Gilbertson, Clarice Hexom (Nelson) -- 1916 - 1999

RUSTAD, NELSON, HEXOM, GILBERTSON, BOEBEL, SCHUTZ, CONZETT, SPILDE, HAUGEN, LYNCH, PAULSEN, HICKEN, FRITZ, RUGLAND

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 6/7/2010 at 17:19:30

Decorah Public Opinion, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999.

Clarice Hexom Gilbertson

Clarice Hexom Gilbertson, 82, of Winona, Minn., and formerly of Decorah, died Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1999, at the Watkins Nursing Home in Winona, Minn.

Funeral services were held Friday, Jan. 22, at 11 a.m., at the First Lutheran Church in Decorah, with the Rev. Tom Miller officiating.

The Rev. Marion Miller was the organist. The congregation sang "Earth and All the Stars" and "For All the Saints."

Casket bearers were Anne Boebel, Chris Boebel, Matthew Evers, April Hexom, Carli Evers Hofferber and Michael Schutz.

Burial was at the Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah. The Fjelstul Funeral Home handled arrangements.

Clarice was born May 19,1916, in Nordness, the daughter of Charlie and Eliza (Rustad) Nelson. The doctor in attendance at her birth was Dr. J. D. Hexom, her future father-in-law.

She was one of nine children born to her parents. The family owned and operated the Nordness Store for many years. Clarice often reminisced about the time she spent helping out in the store.

Clarice graduated with the Decorah High School Class of 1935. She never missed a class reunion, even in 1995, as a resident at the Watkins Nursing Home.

After high school, she taught in the rural schools of Winneshiek County for two years. Then she was married to Floyd Hexom Aug. 13, 1937, at the Little Brown Church in the Vale at Nashua.

Floyd served as mayor of Decorah from 1945-55. Clarice was proud to be the mayor's wife.

Clarice worked at McNeil's in Decorah from 1958-64, and at Seifert's from 1970-80. From 1964-69, she and Floyd co-managed the Elks Club.

Floyd died Oct. 26, 1969. On Sept. 29, 1979, Clarice married Orin Gilbertson in Winona, Minn. Orin died Jan. 20, 1994.

Clarice suffered a stroke in February of 1994. Since then, she had been a resident of the Watkins Nursing Home in Winona, Minn., where residents and staff said they admired her for her strong will, style and smile.

She had been a member of First Lutheran Church in Decorah for many years.

Survivors include four daughters, Dagny and Charles Boebel of North Manchester, Ind., Barbara and John Schutz of Winona, Minn., Joanne Hexom of Geyserville, Calif., and Stephanie Conzett of Burlington; one son, Steve and Jennifer Hexom of Burlington; three step-children, Karl and Barbara Gilbertson of Cedar Falls, John Gilbertson of Albuquerque, N.M., and Anne Gilbertson of Decorah; 18 grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and seven sisters, Agnes Spilde, Evelyn Haugen and Florence Lynch, all of Decorah, Bea Paulsen of Waterloo, Gladys Hicken of Orem, Utah, Marion Fritz of Roseville, Minn., and Dolly Rugland of Kalispell, Mont.

Clarice Hexom Gilbertson was preceded in death by her parents; her first and second husbands; and one brother, Charles.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.