Swanson Peterson Funeral Home

Elaine Arminta Peterson was born May 5, 1920 at home in Cokato, MN. She passed away peacefully March 29, 2022 at the Cokato Manor. Elaine spent most of her life living at their home in Cokato, which she enjoyed along with her family. She broke her hip and went into the Cokato Manor for her care. She was alert and good, up until the last few months. She lived through COVID and never complained when she was there. She has been the “rock” of our family and always had a great mind. God gave her strength all these years with everything in her life.

She is survived by her 5 children, Ramona Franke of St. Cloud, MN, Lana Trippel of Ottertail, MN, Linda Keith of Buffalo, MN, Jeanette Reinfeld of Tallahassee, FL, and Timothy Peterson of Cokato, MN, 12 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren. and 4 great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ed and Luella Midtling, husband, Laurel Peterson, son, Daniel Peterson, granddaughter, Heather Martinson, sisters, Betty Midtling, Mardell Harkman, and Ivanell Degn, brother, Duane Midtling, son in-laws, Tom Franke, Don Trippel, and Ralph Reinfeld.

She is sadly missed by her large family and many friends. We all loved her and she loved us. You never can replace a mother or grandmother like she was. Her gentleness revealed her strength. Her beauty was her gift. Blessings – she gave to us all!

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cokato with visitation 1 hour prior at church. Arrangements by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home of Cokato, 320-286-2534, www.swansonpeterson.com

Funeral Live Stream here: https://www.elchome.net/funerals

Brenda Louise (Martin) Rydberg, age 69, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home near Dassel, Minnesota on Monday, March 21, 2022. Heaven received a beautiful treasure that day. For, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” Psalm 116:15

Brenda was born May 2, 1952 to Glenn and Janet (Juhl) Martin in Belleville, Illinois. Brenda spent her early formative years in various locations including Cherokee, Iowa and Santa Clara, California. In 1965, she moved from Santa Clara with her mother and two younger sisters (Heidi and Lisa) to LeMars, Iowa after her father’s death. She graduated from LeMars Community High School in 1970. She graduated from Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa in 1974 with a double major in German and Elementary Education.

Brenda Martin married LaDon Rydberg on December 22, 1975 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in LeMars, Iowa. To this union were born seven children, Andrew, Miriam, Joseph, Jesse, Bethany, Michael, and Samuel. Brenda was a dedicated homeschool mother, spending much time teaching valuable life skills, reading books for countless hours aloud, going over their studies, and training her children to perform tasks well. Her greatest desire was that her children and grandchildren grow up to love God. That desire spilled over to the lives of many friends and acquaintances.

Brenda always had a love for people wherever she lived and went. She developed many a relationship by wanting others to know God and the importance of having Him be the focus of their life. She was passionate about studying God’s Word and praying for many people by writing Scripture prayers for them. She took great joy in being a blessing to others, since to her it was a great blessing to be a blessing to others. An example of the far-reaching influence is Farshad from Iran who called Brenda his very special American mom and she called him her sixth son. He also claimed her as his spiritual mother as did many others.

Brenda was preceded in death by her parents Glenn and Janet Martin, uncle Harold Rose, and mother-in-law Lois Rydberg.

She is survived by her husband, LaDon of Dassel, MN; children Andrew (Julie) Rydberg of Litchfield, MN; Miriam (Samuel) Glucklich of Janesville, CA; Joseph (KayCee) Rydberg of Dassel, MN; Jesse (Haley) Rydberg of Litchfield, MN; Bethany (Ben) Rickett of Janesville, CA; Michael Rydberg of Dassel, MN; and Samuel Rydberg of Dassel, MN; 20 grandchildren Asher, Simon and Jonas Rydberg of Litchfield, MN; Megan, Molly, Gideon, Natalie, Gracie, Gabriel, Elise, and Timothy Glucklich of Janesville, CA; Fletcher, Emma, Thatcher, and Archer Rydberg of Dassel, MN; Charlie, Danny, Edward, Addelyn, and Fredrick Rickett of Janesville, CA; sisters Heidi (Chuck) Cram of Montrose, CO; Lisa (Robert) Rhea of Smyrna, TN; aunt Brenda Rose of LeMars, IA; father and mother-in-law LuVerne and Marge Rydberg of Alta, IA: sisters-in-law Gayle (Harold) Craig of Armstrong, IA; Anne (Rollin) Nordell of Apple Valley, MN; Joan (Tadd) Chapman of San Antonio, TX; brothers-in-law Kent (Brenda) Rydberg of Dassel, MN; Paul (Nancy) Rydberg of Arthur, IA; many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at Dassel Covenant Church. Arrangements by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home 320-286-2534, www.swansonpeterson.com

Chester Ralph Holm, 85 of Elk River, MN passed away 3/10/2022.  Chester was born September 8, 1936 to Franklin & Agnes (Bjurstrom) Holm, in Cokato, Minnesota. He proudly served his country in the army from 1955-1957 in the Korean War. After the war, he came back to Cokato and met his bride and married Jeanette Marie Schultz on July 28^th 1961.  He worked for the Telephone Company for over 42 years.  Chester was a lover of the outdoors and loved fishing, hunting and gardening.  Chester loved his family and friends.

He is survived by his sister Arlene (Jim) Phinney, 3 children Delwin (Donna) Holm, Dorothy (Mike) Foster, and Darla Grotheer, 6 Grandchildren; Jeff, Jason, Nick, Bryan, Brittany and Kayla, and 5 Great Grandchildren and many other family members and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents Franklin and Agnes Holm, wife Jeanette (Schultz) Holm, sisters Helen Peterson, Evelyn Hintz, & Edith Peterson, brothers Ronald, Carl, and Stanley Holm, brothers-in-law: Ellwood Hintz, Eldon Peterson, and Omar Peterson, sister-in-law: Margy Holm, niece Connie Holtz and other relatives and close friends.

A celebration of Chester’s life is planned for 11AM on Saturday, May 21^st at Memorial Park on Brooks Lake in Cokato, Minnesota. Arrangements by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Cokato, www.swansonpeterson.com, 320-286-2534

Sheila Kaye Briesemeister age 69, of Howard Lake, MN entered into eternal glory with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 9, 2022. She was born January 13, 1953 to Roger and Alberta (Blodgett) Engel of Cokato, MN. Sheila was baptized into Christian faith on March 11, 1953 at St. James Lutheran Church in Howard Lake. She was confirmed in her faith on May 14, 1967 by Gerhard Michael. Sheila graduated from Cokato High School and later married Gary Briesemeister. They had two children, Aaron and Amber. She made Howard Lake her home for most of her life. Her work was in transportation, spending many years working in Roseville, MN. Sheila was a loving mother and grandmother, with her children being the love of her life. Sheila loved watching her children in sports and music while they attended high school and college. She enjoyed crocheting and made several afghans and blankets during her lifetime. Sheila is survived by her children, Aaron (Hannah) Briesemeister and Amber (Jacob) Lind, grandchildren, Janne and Zarah Briesemeister, Addisyn and Avrey Lind, step-grandchildren, Alivia, Havilah, Ariel, and Shiloh, sister, Sharon (Neil) Howell of Plymouth, MN, nephew, Derek (Carli) Remer, brother, David Engel of Cokato, and two other sisters from Minneapolis, nieces and nephews. Sheila was preceded in death by her parents, infant brother, Mark, and her grandparents, Walter and Doris Engel.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Monday, March 14, 2022 at St. James Lutheran Church with visitation 2 hours prior to services at church. Interment will follow at Howard Lake Cemetery. Arrangements by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home of Howard Lake, 320-543-3401, www.swansonpeterson.com

LaVonne Jannett (Birkholz) Stueven, age 92, of Howard Lake, passed away Saturday, February 26th, at Hennepin County Medical Center.

LaVonne was born September 4th, 1929 to Louis and Esther (Streich) Birkholz in Stockholm Township.  Baptized September 29th, 1929 by C.G. Seltz at St. James Lutheran Church, Howard Lake.  Confirmed April 18th, 1943 by Eugene Seltz at St James Lutheran Church.  Her verse was John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice.  LaVonne was married to Dale Stueven on October 23rd, 1948 by Theo Melinat at St James Lutheran Church.

They had three children and farmed together for 44 years.  Besides farming and selling seed corn she loved to garden, play cards with the card party group, work with crafts, sew, embroidery, crochet, quilt, ceramics, greeting cards, and doll furniture out of pop cans. She worked for several years at Timeless Designs where she sewed quilts, shower curtains, bathrobes, and made coordinating picture frames and hat boxes (some of which went to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis).  She loved to travel and visited Alaska, Hawaii, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Spain, and Africa.  She was a lifelong member of St. James Lutheran Church and enjoyed bible class and LWML.  She loved to spend time with family and friends and will be missed by all of us.

LaVonne is survived by her children, Lyle (Maxine) Stueven of Annandale, Pamela Heffern of Litchfield, Kimberly (Nathan) Jopp of Lester Prairie, her grandchildren, Ashley (Justin) Kamphenkel, Tyler (Ira) Stueven, Teri (Eric) Starkey, Jesse Sanden, Jeremy (Heather) Sanden, Adler Jopp, her great grandchildren, Esther, Felix, and Gus Kamphenkel, Letty and Hank Stueven, Ariana and Jameson Starkey, Madison and Brooklynn Sanden, Taylor and Haylee Sanden.

LaVonne is preceded in death by parents Louis and Esther Birkholz, brothers Gordon Birkholz and Kenneth Birkholz, sister Muriel Mattson, sister in law Phylis Birkholz, brother in law Clayton Mattson, nephew John Mattson.

A funeral service will take place Friday, March 4th, 2022 at 2 PM, at St. James Lutheran Church in Howard Lake, with visitation one hour prior.  Arrangements were by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home of Howard Lake.