Ruth Emelia (Nelson) LONNEVIK

LONNEVIK, NELSON, ROKKE, OSCARSON, ELPHIC, MEYER, LARSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/4/2007 at 00:33:03

February 15, 1999
Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette

BELMOND — Funeral services for Ruth Emelia (Nelson) Lonnevik, 69, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Tenold Funeral Home, where the casket will be open, but in accordance with Ruth's request, the casket will be closed at the church on Tuesday. Memorials are recommended to be given in honor of Ruth to St. Olaf Church and missions, Wright County Hospice, Waldorf College, Belmond Hospital Auxiliary, or the Belmond School Scholarship Fund.

Ruth Emelia (Nelson) Lonnevik, the daughter of Nickolie and H. Emelia (Oscarson) Rokke-Nelson, was born on May 23, 1929, in rural Belmond, Iowa. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. She attended rural school and graduated from Belmond High School in 1946. Ruth went on to graduate in 1948 from Waldorf College and taught first grade in Story City, Iowa. She married Russell Lonnevik on Aug. 13, 1949, at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. Ruth worked in the Treasurer's Office at St. Olaf College until Russell's graduation in 1951. The couple lived in Curlew, Iowa, while Russell taught, and they later came to the Belmond area where they were engaged in farming for more than 30 years. Ruth was a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church where she served as a Sunday school teacher, assistant organist, choir director, and worked in various offices of the church. She served on the Belmond School Board, was a member of the Belmond Community Hospital Auxiliary, the Area Arts Council, the "Sons of Norway" organization, and she held many other volunteer duties. Ruth loved quilting and doing crossword puzzles. Ruth died on Sunday (Feb. 14, 1999) at the Belmond Health Care Center in Belmond, after fighting a long battle with cancer.

Survivors include four children, Daniel Lonnevik and his wife, Lorann of Meservey, Wayne Lonnevik of Belmond, Marvin Lonnevik and his wife, Delorys of rural Britt, and Ruth Ann Elphic and her husband, Randy, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; six grandchildren, Eric and Elisa Lonnevik of Meservey, Amber and Ashley Lonnevik of rural Britt, and Colton and Emelia Elphic of Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; four brothers, Norris Nelson and his wife, Florain, of Scarville, Clifford Nelson and his wife, Elnor, of St. Cloud, Minn., Everett Nelson and his wife, Clara, of Dent, Minn., and Reuben Nelson and his wife, Ellie, of Belmond; two sisters, Mildred Meyer of Toledo, Ohio, and Esther Larson and her husband, Roy, of Pelican Rapids, Minn.; a brother-in-law, Roger Lonnevik and his wife, Mildred, of Belmond; a sister-in-law, Marcella Larson and her husband, Eddie, of LaCrosse, Wis.; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by an infant sister, Pearl; her parents; and her husband, Russell, in 1984.