Viola Larson

Funeral services for A. Viola Larson, age 101, will be held on Friday, June 12, 2015 at 11 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milaca with Rev. Tim Bauer officiating. Interment will follow at Borgholm Cemetery near Bock. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Astrid Viola Larson of Milaca passed away peacefully on her 101st birthday, June 10, 2015. She was born June 10, 1914 to Victor and Anna Johnson in Norway/Scandia, Kansas where she was baptized at the Lutheran church. In 1920 when she was six years old, her family boarded a train to begin a new life in Bock, Minnesota on their new 80-acre farm. Viola attended District 50 School and Emanuel Lutheran church, where she was confirmed, taught Sunday School, participated in Luther League, and sang in the choir. Viola left her farm home for a few years to work as a housekeeper and nanny in Minneapolis, but continued to maintain close ties to her family and friends back home. She met Manford Larson and the two were married on June 8, 1940 at Bock Lutheran church. They began their home on a dairy farm in Bogus Brook Township and lived there fifty-four years. Their children, Gerald and Cheryl, enjoyed a cozy home in close proximity to loving grandparents, and many uncles, aunts and cousins. Viola and Manford became active members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Milaca, MN. Viola was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church Women and the Priscilla Circle. Viola loved to entertain, do fancy needle work, bake and decorate cakes, tend her flower garden, and listen to familiar Scandinavian folk tunes. Viola was very thoughtful in her correspondence. Friends and family could always expect a lovely card for birthdays, anniversaries and other special events. Viola kept meticulous journals. Her photo albums are a thorough documentary of the family history spanning four generations. In 1974 Manford and Viola embarked on an adventurous trip to their ancestral homesteads in Norway and Sweden. They saw where their parents had lived and also made the acquaintance of many aunts, uncles and cousins. Following Manford’s death in 1994, Viola moved to an apartment in Milaca. In 2009 when her health appeared more frail, she relocated to the Elim Home where she received loving and attentive nursing care. She enjoyed an active social life and cherished her special relationship with the Elim Chaplains and their ministry with her. She is survived by son Gerald (Kristine) of Louisville, Kentucky and daughter Cheryl (Dennis) Buckley of Fifty Lakes, MN; Grandchildren: Chris Buckley, Erik (Larissa) Buckley, Ingrid (Mark) Davis, Carl Larson and Paul (Noël) Larson; Great Grandchildren: Darius, Jack, Annika and Vivian Larson; Finn and Eli Buckley; and Erik and Paul Davis as well as sister Clarice (Bob) Nord and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Manford; parents Anna and Victor Johnson; brother Carl during WWII, and brothers Leslie, Laverne, and Warren and sister Alice and their spouses. Viola departed her earthly life on her 101st birthday, but resumed celebrating this day in heaven with her precious Lord and in the company of all her loved ones waiting in the great cloud of witnesses. Praise be to God!