Lorraine L. Thurber

LORRAINE LINDA THURBER, age 76 of Elysian, died on Thursday, December 29, 2016 at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

Born in Hunter, North Dakota on March 8, 1940, Lorraine was the daughter of Reinhardt “R.C.” and Linda (Moll) Brummund.  After graduating from Cannon Falls High School she attended Mankato State University.  On June 11, 1966 Lorraine married Lawrence Thurber at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls.  Over the years Lorraine worked in bookkeeping at Mankato State, for the Thro Company in North Mankato, at E.F. Johnson Company in Waseca, for Norwood Young America, and finally for Casey’s General Stores in Elysian.  Lorraine was the head of the “Fare For All” program for about 30 years as a volunteer.  She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, and enjoyed reading, quilting, working puzzles, and spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She was a fixture at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Elysian where she was very active in Sunday school, quilting, sewing banners, and anything else that needed doing. 

Lorraine is survived by two children, Gail Ziesmer of Henderson and Barry (Niquoia) Thurber of Mankato; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; six siblings, Carl (Diane) Brummund of Bemidji, Lydia (Al) Dingle of Connecticut, Richard Brummund of Hawaii, Susan (Allen) Shauer of Lafayette, Joyce Brummund of Virginia, and Gene Brummund of Welch.  She was preceded in death by both of her parents; her husband; two sisters, Amelia “Amy” Jensen and Edith “Dee” Stanke; and one son-in-law, Terry Ziesmer.

Visitation will be held from 4-7PM on Thursday, January 5, 2017 at Dennis Funeral & Cremation Services in Waterville.

Funeral services will be held nine days later, at 11:00AM on Saturday, January 14, 2017 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Elysian, with Rev. Russ Grabau officiating.  One hour of visitation time will be held at the church before the service.  Interment will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Elysian.

In lieu of flowers, Lorraine's family requests that any memorial donations be directed to the funeral home on their behalf. Also, Barry and Niquoia have recently established a CaringBridge webpage for Lorraine.  They invite you to visit her page here.

To send condolences to the family click here.