Area Obituaries

Darlene Fay Turner, or more lovingly known as, “Thad’s wife”, died on July 1, 2019. She was born July 26, 1936, in Kennedy Minn., to Ella and Gudford Swanson. Ma Turner grew up on a farm with her sister Della Mae  (deceased) and brother Lyle (deceased). Darlene was born with a heart of gold. She…

Karen Johnson, 61, Thief River Falls, Minn., and formerly of Lancaster, Minn., passed away at Thief River Falls Care Center on Wednesday, May 22, 2018. Karen Jillaine Johnson was born April 4, 1958, in Karlstad, Minn., to Ray and Lillah (Goodrich) Johnson. She grew up on the family farm near Lancaster and graduated from Lancaster…

Daniel W. Homstad, 51, Apple Valley, Minn., ended his life after a prolonged battle with depression on May 28, 2019. Dan was a former Hennepin County public defender and prosecutor, before opening his own law firm, Dan Homstad Defense, in Bloomington. Dan described himself as an attorney, dad, husband, Civil War student, baseball enthusiast, Vikings…

Today we celebrate the life of James “Jim” Percival Halvorson. Jim was born April 3, 1957, in Thief River Falls, Minn., and grew up in Goodridge, Minn. As a young boy, he enjoyed basketball, hunting, fishing and trapping, which continued into his adulthood. He had a vast knowledge of everything related to the outdoors and…

Rudolph “Rudy” Dembiczak, 79, of Karlstad, Minn., passed away at his home on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Rudolph Alex Dembiczak was born March 18, 1940, in Greenbush, Minn., to Alex and Agnes (Bizek) Dembiczak.  He grew up near Greenbush and graduated from high school there in 1958. He worked for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle for…

Margaret Sandberg, 101, of Kennedy, Minn., passed away at Kittson Memorial Healthcare Center in Hallock on Saturday, May 11, 2019. Margaret Ingrid Sandberg was born in Tegner Township on Jan. 9, 1918, to Victor and Emma (Anderson) Sandberg. She grew up on the family farm east of Kennedy with her twin sister, Marie, and younger…

Dorothy Lawrence entered her eternal home on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. She was born on March 13, 1927, on a farm of her grandparents, Peter and Geske Janssen in Cottonwood County, near Heron Lake, Minn. At two years of age, she and her parents, Emil and Emma Schlapkohl moved to a farm in Nobles County,…

Daniel R. Magnuson, 76, of rural Roanoke, Ill., passed away peacefully at home on May 21, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on June 4, 1942, in Hallock, Minn., to George and Pearl (Hallett) Magnuson. He met Judy Blunier on a blind date in 1966, and they were married on May 1,…

Carroll Ray Nicholson, 92, Apache Junction, Ariz., passed away on Feb. 21, 2019. Born to Roy and Nora Marie Weberg Nicholson on Christmas Eve in 1926 in Kittson County, Hallock Village, Minn. Ray grew up on the family farm near Lancaster, Minn., together with his brother, Richard (Dick) Nicholson. He answered the call to service…