Jim Bierman's blog

GINGER MILLER

Virginia ‘Ginger’ Miller, age 83 of Lake Byllesby and formerly of Northfield, passed away Thursday, April 02, 2009 at the Augustana Care Center in Apple Valley. Funeral Services will be 11:00 am Tuesday, April 7th at the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield with burial at the Stanton Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday 1 hour prior to Services at the Funeral Home.

Ginger Miller is survives by daughters Marie Hagen and Nancy Schnobrich both of Burnsville; daughter-in-law Pat Miller of Bloomington; sister Lorraine Olson of Sun City West, AZ; grandchildren Jason (Tanya) Miller of Menomonie, WI, Aric (Sara) Miller of St Paul, Chuck (Anna) Charstrom of Watertown, MN, Kristen Carlson of Ohio; and 9 great grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements by the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield.

 Ronald James Griffith passed away on Thursday, March 12, 2009 from pancreatic cancer. Ron’s brilliant and inquiring intellect, commitment to family and community, outstanding professional leadership, and generous heart will be missed by the many people he touched in Northfield and around the world.

Mary Nierengarten Fogarty, age 61, of Northfield, passed away on Sunday, February 22nd 2009. Mary was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota on June 20, 1947 to Carl and Alice Nierengarten. Mary graduated from Cathedral High School in 1965 and from Hennepin County General Hospital nursing program with an R.N. degree in 1968. She married John Fogarty, also of St. Cloud, in 1969 and after moving to Northfield, gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Michael. Mary worked as an operating room nurse at Northfield Hospital and Fairview Southdale Hospital, a consultant for a medical software company, a clinical educator at Fairview Southdale, and as a nurse manager at Children’s West in Minnetonka. She and her husband worked and lived in Taipei, Taiwan for four years.

Hazel Dammer, age 87, of Northfield, died on Monday, February 02, 2009 at the Three Links Care Center in Northfield. Funeral services will be held 2:00pm Saturday, February 7th at the Dennison Lutheran Church in Dennison with the Reverend Terje Hausken officiating with burial at the Valley Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday at the Church 1 hour prior to Services.

Hazel Irene Dammer was born December 13, 1921 in Kenyon, MN, daughter of Thomas and Tilda (Holt) Haugen. She was raised with her family on various farms in the Kenyon and Dennison area and was baptized and confirmed at the Vang Lutheran Church. She attended country school and then was a housekeeper at private homes for a few years. On January 26, 1945 she was united in marriage to Elsworth Edward Dammer at the Dennison Lutheran Church in Dennison. They made their first home in Dennison and moved to Northfield in the early 1950’s.

John E. “Jack” Tripp, age 85 of Northfield, passed away Monday, September 29, 2008 at his home, surrounded by family and loved ones, cracking jokes to his last breath. Funeral Services will be 3:00pm Saturday, October 4th at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield with burial at the Cannon Falls Cemetery. Visitation Friday from 4-8:00pm at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield and 1 hour prior to Services on Saturday.

Gail E. Koester, age 66 of rural Dennison, passed away with family by her side on September 18, 2008, at Rochester Methodist Hospital. Gail E. (Wright) Koester was born to Russell Wright & Stella (Siefken) Wright on Oct. 31, 1941, in Sioux Rapids, IA. She was baptized at the Little Sioux Valley Lutheran Church and confirmed at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Rembrandt, IA. As a child, Gail and her sister, Lois, would go with their parents into Rembrandt, where Gail’s dad would run the picture show. Gail learned her hard work ethic on her parents’ farm. Gail had a beautiful singing voice and sang in choirs and choruses at church and school. Gail graduated from Rembrandt High School in 1959 where she also played the tenor saxophone in the school band.

After she graduated from Waldorf Junior College, she then moved to Northfield, MN, where she worked in the office of the treasurer of St. Olaf College for a number of years.

Steven Harshman, age 62 of Northfield, MN and formerly of Menomonie, passed away Monday, July 14, 2008 at his home in Bridgewater Township.

Visitation will be Friday July 18th from 10:00am -12 noon at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield. Graveside Services with military honors will follow at 1:00 pm at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Steven Michael Harshman was born December 12, 1945 in Menomonie, WI, son of Verne and Mollie (DeLine) Harshman. He was raised in Menomonie and graduated from high school there. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1964 serving a tour of duty in Vietnam and upon his discharge in 1968 had reached the rank of Sergeant. He furthered his education with three years of Law School. Steven was involved with the 4th. U.S. Army Intelligence Agency

Following his service, Steve and Cindy owned a beef ranch and did logging and farming in Wisconsin.

Joyce Johnson, age 87 of Northfield, passed away Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at the Northfield Care Center. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Northfield Retirement Chapel with the Reverend Diane Goulson, officiating. Interment will take place in the Oaklawn Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Friday, July 18th. from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield and on Saturday one hour prior to the service at the Retirement Center.

Joyce Christine Johnson was born October 17, 1920 in Webster County, Iowa, daughter of Oscar and Effie (Bodell) Anderson. Upon graduation from Burnside High School she attended business school in Des Moines, IA. Following her marriage to her high school sweet heart, Norman Alexander Johnson, they farmed in the Calendar, IA area where their 3 daughters were born.

Audrey Anne Moberg, age 60, of Northfield, passed away in her home on July 16, 2008 ending her four-year battle with breast cancer.

Audrey was born in Northfield April 16, 1948 to Donald and Eunice (Lilla) Lynch. She attended St. Dominic School through 6th grade and graduated from Northfield High School in 1966. Four years later, on April 4, 1970 she married James Moberg at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN. James and Audrey made their home in Northfield and were blessed with four daughters. Over the years she worked in a variety of different positions, none more valued than staying home and raising her daughters. In 1990, Audrey took a position at St. Olaf College in the Advancement Division. She worked there for over 18 years, until just weeks before her passing.

Throughout her life, Audrey pursued numerous activities. From sewing to baking, knitting to gardening, she loved providing for her family and others.