Dorothy Rose Madsen

Dorothy R. Madsen age 92 of Tracy, MN died Saturday, July 16, 2011 at the Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Balaton, MN. Services will be 11:00 AM Saturday, July 23, 2011 at Tracy Lutheran Church. Visitation will be at Tracy Lutheran also from 5:00 until 7:00 PM, with a prayer service at 7:00 PM. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. A luncheon will be served immediately following the service and interment will be in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Balaton after the luncheon. The Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy is handling the arrangements. Dorothy Rose Madsen was born November 11, 1918 to Dave and Rosie (Cassen) Reese in Cameron Township in Murray County. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and attended school in Russell, MN. On December 21, 1940 Dorothy married Darrell L. Madsen in Marshall, MN. They made their home on a farm near Balaton, MN until 1945, when they moved to a farm near Tracy, MN, and later to a farm near Garvin, MN. After forty years of farming they retired into Tracy in 1979. Dorothy enjoyed the farm and often helped her husband with the work. Throughout the years she spent much of her time as a homemaker, gardener, and at one time was an avid horsewoman. After they moved into Tracy, she worked as a cook in the Skandia Café located in Tracy. Dorothy was a member of Tracy Lutheran Church, where she was active over the years in Circle and other church women’s groups. She was also a member of the Monroe Friendship Club, the Golden Age Club, and a Bunco Card Club. Dorothy and her husband enjoyed playing cards with friends, traveling in winters past to Texas, Arizona and California, and were even members of the Tracy Country Club for some years. She also enjoyed attending events at the Tracy Senior Center, watching Minnesota Twins Baseball, and spending time with her grandchildren, great grandchildren and her cat, Babe. In January of 2010, Dorothy became a resident of the Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Balaton, where she died Saturday, July 16, 2011 at the age of 92. Dorothy is survived by her three daughters, Rita Lee (Richard) Wempen of Clear Lake, IA, Jane Carol Madsen of Tucson, AZ, and Sandra Kay (George) Nyquist of Tracy, MN; nine grandchildren, Michael Wempen, David Wempen, Sara Jones, Matthew Johnson, Laurie Hoffman, Jennifer Thomas, June Rezac, Dan Nyquist and Carl Nyquist; eleven great grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Dawn Patterson of Aiken, MN; nieces, nephews and friends. Her husband, Darrell, her parents, three infant grandsons, one brother, Jack (Ethel) Reese, and two sisters, Chris (William) Zeimann and Hazel (Guy) Baack preceded her in death.