Celestine 'Sally' Jonson

Celestine Sally' Jonson, age 95, formerly of St. James passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 14, 2020 at the Minnehaha Senior Living Center in Minneapolis. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00am, Friday, August 21, 2020 at St. James Catholic Church with Father Timothy Hall as Celebrant. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in St. James. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to St. James Catholic Church in St James, Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Morris, Church of St Albert the Great in Minneapolis, or Minnehaha Senior Living in Minneapolis. Please call Sturm's for contact information. Celestine "Sally" Ann Jonson (Zender, Grev) was born August 23, 1924 to Andrew and Magdalena (Rathman) Zender. She attended Butterfield Schools and graduated in 1942. She met Selvin Grev when he was in the Army, married him August 4, 1946 and had 5 children. They loved to go dancing at Dukes and had a lot of fun as a couple. Family always came first to Sally and Selvin, who embraced a love of life-long learning, a priority for education, and hard work. They owned Grev Plumbing and Heating business, where she was the bookkeeper. After Selvin's sudden death in 1961, leaving her a widow at 36 with 5 kids ages 1 to 13, she started Welcome Wagon, waitressed at the golf club, and was a summer postal carrier. She married Vernon Jonson August 13, 1966, moved to Morris, MN, and returned to St James in 2008. Sally gave back to her community in service to VFW Auxiliary, Stevens County Extension Club, an investment club and by daily checking on elderly neighbors, assisting with their health and well being. She was a cradle Catholic who lived out her faith in visiting the home bound with the BeFrienders Ministry, Council of Catholic Women, church choir, church committees volunteer, including many dinners for funerals and special occasions. Sally was a very wise personal investor, buying rental property in Morris and managing their apartments and rental rooms for about 30 years. She kept up with current affairs, read the paper daily, followed the financial reports, and had strong opinions on politics and rights of all people. While in Morris, she was an Avon Rep and was a nursing aide in the Villa of St Francis, a home health aide at Stevens County and a private care giver for 25 years. She was often assigned the most difficult patients because of her skilled, compassionate, kind care, and was specifically sought out by family members to take care of their loved ones. She was a very hardworking woman who used her nurse aide skills to be the primary care giver for Vern for several years before he died in 2014 of Alzheimer's. Sally's hobbies included embroidery, quilting, gardening, canning, bowling, playing cards and games, and reading. She loved to travel and took tours all over the USA, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan, traveling with her husband, sister Marian Smith or children. Sally kept a diary for decades, and while in her 80's, she wrote her memoirs through 2014 with the assistance of her son-in-law Tate Ferguson as a gift to her children and grandchildren. Sally moved to Minnehaha Senior Living in Minneapolis in July 2018 at almost age 94 when health issues required her to be close to family. She adjusted well to being in assisted living, enjoyed meeting the residents there, participated in many of their activities, and was helped daily by Rita and Doug. Despite the visiting restrictions during the pandemic, Sally kept up with family members' lives through daily Skype visits, often up to 2 hour sessions, with Rita and her siblings and spouses. The Skype visits were rich with lots of talking, playing piano, guitar music, singing, looking at family photographs, reading from Mom's memoir, joke telling, eating lunch together in front of our own computer devices, and otherwise sharing our love. These Skype opportunities were facilitated by kind Minnehaha Senior Living staff members who appreciated that communication with loved ones was a priority for families and patients during Covid. They treated Mom with great compassion, skill and love and we are extremely grateful to them all. St Croix Hospice nursing staff were also a great assistance in her final 6-7 weeks. Sally was truly an amazing woman who lived a good, long, rich life and demonstrated to us all how to age gracefully and die peacefully. The way she lived a life of compassion, commitment and caring set a fine example for her 5 children and their spouses, 9 grandchildren and 2+ great grandchildren. She is survived by her children: Douglas John (Penny) Grev of St Paul, MN, Renee Grev (Bill) Sheehan of Alameda, CA, Rita Louise Grev and Tate Ferguson of Minneapolis, MN, Roger Scott Grev and Donna Toft of Columbus, OH, Randall David (Amy Lu) Grev of Taipei, Taiwan; grandchildren: Matthew (Jackie) Grev, James Grev, Jonathan (Rebecca) Sheehan, Kelly Sheehan-Turner and Buddy Turner, David Sheehan, Casey Grev and Katie Schuler, Celie Grev and Sean Finotti, Alison and Lena Grev; great-grandchildren: Elliana Grev (Matt and Jackie),Louisa Grev (Casey and Katie), Kelly and Buddy's baby boy Ethan due early September; sister-in-law Kathleen Blumenshein of Sherburn, MN, and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, husbands, sisters Jeanette (Ray) Rempel, Marian (Ben) Smith; brothers Andrew "Red" Zender, John (Ardyce) Zender, Robert (Marilyn and Sharyl) Zender. Considering that Sally provided health care to many for a long time, we request that you honor our mother by following safety precautions if you are able to attend her funeral service in person. We expect everyone to wear a mask, to socially distance at 6 feet, to use hand sanitizer/washing, and to only give virtual hugs. She and we would never want anyone to get ill from a celebration of her life. Service Information 11:00 am Friday, August 21, 2020 St. James Catholic Church, St. James 623 4th Street S. Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Interment Information Calvary Cemetery- St. James East of town on CR 27 Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081