Hilma Garrels

Visitation: 4:00PM to 8:00PM Monday, January 7, 2008 with a prayer service at 7:00PM at the Almlie Funeral Home in Balaton. Service: 2:00PM Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Balaton. Visitation is one hour prior to the service. Hilma Garrels was born December 10, 1915 to Olai and Gunild (Askdalen) Gautefall on a farm near Hazel Run, MN. She was baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith and grew up in the Hazel Run and Hanley Falls, MN communities. Hilma attended country school and Hanley Falls Public Schools. As a young woman she did housework for many families before going to work at Dr. Gray’s Hospital and then later Weiner Memorial Hospital in Marshall, MN. On June 27, 1941 Hilma married Bert Garrels at the parsonage in Hanley Falls by Rev. Alf Jorgenson and they made their home on the family farm near Hanley Falls. Shortly after their marriage her husband entered the military and they moved to Alabama and Arizona where he was stationed. During that time Hilma worked at several clothing stores until after the war, when they returned to live in the Balaton, MN community. Hilma was a past member of the Presbyterian Church until it closed and was a current member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Balaton. Over the years, she was very active in her church as part of Ladies Aid, her Circle and quilting. She also was a member of several Birthday Clubs, one of which she was a part of for over 50 years. Hilma enjoyed many crafts, sewing, flower gardening and playing her organ and key board, but she truly loved spending time with her many friends and family. In 1991 Hilma and Bert celebrated their 50th anniversary and after his death in 1992 she continued to live in her home till her health failed in 2007. On Friday, January 4, 2008 Hilma died, surrounded by her loving family, at the Sanford Hospice Cottage in Luverne, MN at the age of 92. Hilma is survived by her three sons, Gary (Nancy) Garrels of Tracy, MN, Ronnie (Dee) Garrels of Huron, SD and Bruce (Dee Dee) Garrels of Balaton, MN; one daughter, Tamie (Verlyn) Hoff of Luverne, MN; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; one sister, Geneva “Babe” Herberg of Redwood Falls, MN; nieces, nephews and many friends. Her husband, Bert, her parents, one brother, Edgar and three sisters, Gena Leupke, Odella Aakvik and Erva Folstad preceded her in death.