Jeanette Mathistad

Jeanette Adelle Laingen, daughter of Amanda (Eng) and Palmer T. Laingen, was born on July 17, 1920, in Odin Township, MN. She died on Friday, October 18, 2013, at the age of 93 in her home in Richardson, TX. Jeanette was baptized and confirmed in St. Olaf Lutheran Church in rural Odin. She attended grade school in District 15 and graduated from St. James High School in 1938. Jeanette attended Calhoun Secretarial School in Minneapolis and was employed in the County Extension Office in St. James. During WWII she was employed at the Twin Cities Ordinance Plant in Minneapolis. On November 21, 1942, she was united in marriage to Joel Mathistad in St. Olaf Lutheran Church, after which they lived in Minneapolis, Pleasantville, NJ and Brooklyn, NY. Since 1945 they resided in St. James but spent approximately 20 winters in AZ. She was a member of First Lutheran Church and the American Legion Auxiliary. She was active in all church functions, an incredible seamstress and was always there when her kids arrived home from school. A full blooded Norwegian, she understood the Norwegian language but rarely spoke it. When her husband, Joel, passed away in 2007, she went to live with her daughter, Shirley, in CO, and the past two years in Richardson, TX Mrs. Mathistad is survived by son, Dennis and friend Patricia Porter of Erie, CO; daughters, Phyllis (Jim) Gallegos of Garland , TX and Shirley of Richardson, TX; grandson Bryan and daughter-in-law Stacy Gallegos and great granddaughter Hailey of Sunnyvale, TX; step granddaughter, Michelle Cauffiel and step great grandchildren, Daniella and Garet of Colorado Springs, CO; brother and sister-in-law, Lester and Lucille Laingen of Sonoma, CA; nieces and nephews. Jeanette was preceded in death by her husband, Joel, parents, sister and brother-in-law, Lois and Omar Broste. First Visitation 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Tuesday, October 22, 2013 Sturm Funeral Home, St. James Chapel 906 - 10th Ave. S. St. James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Second Visitation 9:30 am - 10:30 am Wednesday, October 23, 2013 First Lutheran Church, St. James 716 6th Ave. S. Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Service Information 10:30 am Wednesday, October 23, 2013 First Lutheran Church, St. James 716 6th Ave. S. Saint James, Minnesota, United States 56081 Interment Information Mt. Hope Cemetery, St. James S. CR 27 St. James, Minnesota, United States