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Dorothy Marguerite Okerstrom
• 1908 - 2009 She was born May 15, 1908, in Lily Lake, Ill, near Chicago, one of six children of Swedish immigrants Ernest and Beda Mary (Anderson) Lindahl. Dorothy was not yet ten years old when her mother died in the flu epidemic of 1918. Her father, believing he could not raise six children alone, sought the help of friends. One of them was Anna Swanson, who with her husband, Pete, took Dorothy and her younger sister to live with them in Port Wing, Wis. Dorothy remained there until age 16, when she felt it was time to support herself. So she returned to the Chicago area and became employed as a housekeeper. During the summer months she made return visits to Port Wing. Port Wing is where she met Thurston Nathaniel "Okie" Okerstrom. They began dating, and when she went back to her job in Chicago, they corresponded. Three years later, on May 14, 1931, they were married. They first lived in Bayfield, Wis., where he worked for a brother at a power plant. He later was transferred to Grand Marais, Minn., where he managed the city power plant and Dorothy worked in the plant store selling appliances. Several years later, he went to work for Standard Oil Co. in Duluth, Minn. In 1941, they moved to St. Joseph, Mo, and lived there until moving to Fargo in 1956. He retired from Standard Oil in 1962. Mr. Okerstrom died Feb. 15, 2000. Dorothy remained in Fargo until moving to Minot in September 2007. Throughout her life, Dorothy's main focus was family, and her guide was the Bible, which she read prodigiously. Since her husband's job with Standard Oil required a lot of travel, she poured her energies into raising their daughter Mary Ellen, their only child. The Okerstroms also maintained a summer home on Pelican Lake, Minn., near Fargo, and they were frequent visitors to Minot where their daughter and family lived. She is survived by her daughter, Mary Ellen "Cookie" Berning and her husband Wallace, Minot; two grandchildren, Todd Berning and his fiancée Carolyn Molland of Fargo and Shaun Ellen Berning, Denver; two great-grandsons, Landen and Keenen Berning; a sister, Helen Swanson and her husband Orville, Port Wing. A number of nieces and nephews also survive. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her step-parents, three brothers, Elmer, Harry, and Arthur, a sister, Bernice, and a nephew, Jerome Swanson. Funeral: Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity Homes Chapel, Minot. Visitation: Saturday, one hour prior to the service at Trinity Homes Chapel, Minot. Burial: Greenwood Cemetery, Port Wing, WI, later in the spring. Memorials are preferred to Trinity Homes Library Fund, Minot. Officiating Clergy: Rev. Luther Hanson Eulogist: Wallace Berning Music Congregational Hymn, “Beautiful Savior” Honorary Bearers: Dorothy’s family and many friends Following the service everyone is invited to join the family for a time of fellowship in Trinity Homes Chapel. Dorothy’s family would like to thank everyone for the many acts of kindness shown during this difficult time. Your friendship has meant so very much and your thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated. God bless the memory of Dorothy Okerstrom! To sign the online guest register
for Dorothy |
Dorothy
Marguerite Okerstrom, 100, formerly of Fargo, ND, died March
15, 2009, at Trinity Nursing Home in Minot where she had been
living for the last eighteen months.