Ordell Witte
Ordell Witte, age 90 of Northfield, went home to heaven on Christmas morning, Sunday, December 25, 2011. She died at Three Links Care Center in Northfield where her family kept a bedside vigil during her final days. Funeral Services will be 2:00 pm Saturday, January 7th at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Northfield with burial at the Oaklawn Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday at the Church one hour prior to Services.
Ordell Muriel Olson Witte was born at home on November 3, 1921 in Northfield, just two short blocks from where she died. She was the youngest daughter of Nels and Georgia (Miller) Olson, and was baptized at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. As a child she moved with her family to a farm near Cosmos, Minnesota, where she began her education in a one room schoolhouse. The family moved many times during her childhood, but they moved back to Northfield in 1937 and she graduated from Northfield High School in 1939.
She graduated from St. Olaf College in 1944 and taught for two years before returning to school. She completed a Parish Work Certificate program at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska in 1947 and began a career in Parish Work serving Lutheran congregations in Nebraska and Wisconsin. In the 1950s she ventured west and served St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Lynwood, California, where she helped start a Christian Day School. Members of St. Paul's played matchmaker with another midwest transplant in the congregation, Virgil Witte, and they were married on August 30, 1953 at St. Peter’s in Northfield. They made their home in California where their daughters Carol and Nancy were born. The family moved back to Northfield in 1958, where their son Paul was born. In Northfield Ordell worked at the Laura Baker School, teaching arts and crafts for 15 years.
Ordell's strong faith in the love of Jesus was central to her life. She was very involved in her church where she was a member of the New Spirit Circle, the quilting group, Bread for the World, Lutheran Cursillo and the prayer chain. She was warm and hospitable, helping new people at St Peter's feel included and taking an interest in their lives. She befriended many others, including new refugee families as they arrived in Northfield. She lovingly cared for her elderly parents and her two sisters in their final years. She took great delight in finding bargains at garage sales, an early believer in simple living. She was creative with needlework and quilting projects at home and with her church group. She spent hours visiting with family and friends, talking on the phone, mastering the art of social networking long before the invention of the internet. She looked forward to meeting her Savior, so her death on Christmas morning somehow seems appropriate. She was a wonderful wife, mother, sister, aunt and grandmother and will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Ordell is survived by her husband Virgil; daughters Carol Witte (husband Winston Cavert) of Minneapolis, Nancy (husband Mike) Carriel of Northfield; son Paul Witte of Northfield; grandchildren Elspeth and Johan Cavert, Ethan Witte, and Casey Carriel. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother Ernest Olson; sisters Wilma Nystuen and Evangeline Hoecke.
Many, many thanks to the wonderful staff at Three Links Care Center for the loving care she received over the last year and a half. In lieu of flowers Memorials to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church (418 East Sumner St, Northfield, MN) or the Community Action Center of Northfield (1651 Jefferson Parkway Suite HS-200, Northfield, MN) are preferred.
Arrangements by the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield.
