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Hazel S. Lawrence • 1920 - 2010 Hazel Sophia Johnson was born December 3, 1920 in Powers Lake, ND to Carl and Jorina (Bull) Johnson. She graduated from Powers Lake High School and completed two years at Minot State Teacher’s College, receiving an elementary school teaching certificate. She was an elementary school teacher in Bergen and Egeland, ND, where she met Lester Lawrence, a high school teacher. They were married August 6, 1942 in Powers Lake, ND. Following their marriage they resided in Kenmare, where Lester was a high school teacher. In 1956 they moved to Powers Lake to the original home where she was born and raised. Lester taught high school shop classes in the blacksmith shop, which Hazel’s father had operated since 1912. Hazel taught in elementary schools in Battleview, in country schools north of Powers Lake, and at other schools in Burke County, during the 1960’s. She then provided home care services in Burke County for the state of North Dakota and was given an award in Bismarck for her 20+ years of service during the 1970’s and 80’s. Lester passed away on June 5, 1991. Hazel served as organist for the Bethel Baptist Church in Powers Lake for 27 years, from 1977 to 2004. She was active in the Powers Lake Civic Club, planting and caring for flowers along Main Street. She worked in the kitchen at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Prairies and also at the Powers Lake Senior Citizens Center. She provided organ music and accompaniment for worship services at Bethel Baptist, which was special for her, and she assisted with some 54 funeral services at the church. Hazel moved from Powers Lake to the Good Shepherd Community in Sauk Rapids, MN in 2004. Those who shared in Hazel’s life, children, Richard (Dorothy) Lawrence, St. Cloud, MN, Wesley (Vien) Lawrence, Wilton, NH; Muriel (Henry Chaperont) Lawrence, Colorado Springs, CO, Terry (Cheri) Lawrence, Fergus Falls, MN; Hazel has six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers, Oliver (Fern) Johnson, Vancouver, WA, Merle (Shirley) Johnson, Villa Park, CA; and sister, Grace Hudson, Laguna Hills, CA; numerous nieces and nephews. Hazel was preceded in death by her husband, Lester; parents, Carl and Jorina Johnson, brothers, Allen and Albert Johnson and sister, Agnes Schmitt. Funeral: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church, Powers Lake, ND. Visitation: Wednesday, one hour prior to the service in the church. Burial: Bethel Baptist Cemetery, Powers Lake, ND.
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Hazel S. Lawrence, 89, Sauk Rapids, MN, formerly of Powers Lake, ND, died Sunday, April 18, 2010 in a Sauk Rapids nursing home.