Alvina (Cherland) KALLESTAD

CHERLAND, KALLESTAD

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/16/2013 at 13:31:16

February 19, 1910 --- July 13, 2006

Alvina Kallestad, 96, of Park Rapids, Minn., died Thursday, July 13, 2006, at the Heritage Living Center, where she had been a resident since 1998. Funeral services were held Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Park Rapids. She was buried alongside her husband at the Lake Emma Cemetery.

Alvina was born in Corwith, Iowa, and was raised in Blue Earth, Minn. She lived in Mankato, Minn., Jamestown, N.D., Graceville, Minn. and Miller, S.D. before moving to Park Rapids full-time in 1979. She and her late husband, Leonard, moved to Miller in 1951 where he was vice president at the First National Bank until his retirement in 1970. She was one of the first women in a professional career in central South Dakota where she owned and operated a tax accounting business for nearly 25 years in Miller prior to retiring to Park Rapids. She also continued to do taxes on a volunteer basis for a few years after retiring.

The Kallestads raised sons Brent and Bard during their time in Miller and both remain proud of their youth in a community where their mother always described the residents as "the salt of the earth." The Kallestads owned a summer home on Lake Emma near Park Rapids from 1973 to 1991 where their nine grandchildren learned to swim, water ski and enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty of northern Minnesota. Alvina enjoyed golf and bridge and keeping up with her younger siblings and sons. Brent and Bard each graduated from Miller High School and served in the U.S. Navy. Brent, who graduated from the University of South Dakota, now lives in Tallahassee, Fla., and Bard resides in Cedar, Minn.

In addition to her children, survivors also include five grandsons, four granddaughters and eight great-granchildren; younger brother Dick Cherland of Banning, Calif.; and scores of nieces, nephews and cousins, including Hattie Cherland of Miller. Alvina was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Leonard, who died in 1994.