Stella Derksen

Stella Derksen, the daughter of John and Helena (Bergman) Derksen was born on January 25, 1921, at Mountain Lake, MN. She attended Cottonwood County District 80 East country school, and she graduated from the Mountain Lake High School in 1938. On June 5, 1938, Stella was baptized upon confession of her faith at the First Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. On December 8, 1938, the First Mennonite Church opened their first library with 103 books, and Stella served as the church's first librarian. Stella continued her education at the University of Minnesota, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree with distinction in July 1944, with Library Science as her major. She also did graduate work in Personnel Relations at California Western University. She worked in Green Bay, WI, West Virginia and New York - all in various librarian functions. In 1948, she began work at the New York Naval Shipyard in New York, where she worked until October 1956. Stella then moved to California, where she again worked in various librarian functions until 1963 when she accepted a position with the University of Pennsylvania in Florida as a Technical Information Specialist. She later moved to Philadelphia, PA and continued to work for the University there until her accident (Stella was struck by an automobile while walking in a crosswalk). She continued to make her home in Philadelphia, helping various families with the care of their children, and for a number of years she worked in the drug abuse and rehabilitation programs. In 1999, Stella bought a home in Mountain Lake and returned to her childhood home. She had a love of books and acquired an extensive personal library. Stella enjoyed traveling to new places, following politics, entertaining her family, gardening and caring for plants, and she had a true love of children. Stella is survived by 15 nieces and nephews and their families, many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Helena Derksen, Mathilda Derksen, Hilda Curry, Katherine Derksen and Anna Pankratz; four brothers, John, Peter, Cornelius and Willard Derksen; and two nieces.