Gladys Thostenson
d. July 15, 2023
Gladys Thostenson, age 95, of Montevideo and formerly of Hanley Falls, passed away on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at CCM Health Hospital in Montevideo. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 12, 2023, at 10:30 AM at Yellow Medicine Lutheran Church in Hanley Falls. Visitation will be held at the church on Friday, August 11, 2023, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM, and from 9:30 – 10:30 AM on Saturday. Interment will follow the service at Yellow Medicine Lutheran Church East Cemetery.
Gladys Lorraine Thostenson was born September 13, 1927, near Milan, Minnesota, the third child and only daughter of Oscar and Hannah (Mork) Nelson. She was baptized in the Lutheran faith at Kviteseid Lutheran Church in Milan and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton. Gladys attended a country school near Holloway until the eighth grade, where she was the only student in her class. She spent her high school years at Appleton High School, and graduated as salutatorian with the class of 1945. During her years on the family farm, Gladys regularly assisted with the livestock and household chores, and was a perennial member of the local 4-H club, where she participated in various sewing competitions among other activities.
Upon her high school graduation, Gladys won a scholarship to St. Olaf College, which she attended for one year. She then opted to transfer to a three-year nurse’s training program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where she successfully completed the Registered Nurse’s course in 1949. Though she seldom saw her nursing school classmates after graduation, Gladys kept up a lifelong correspondence with them by mail.
Gladys remained in Minneapolis after receiving her nursing certification and worked in the OB-GYN section at Abbott Northwestern for a year and a half. During this time, she took a weekend trip to Renville, Minnesota with a friend when her life took a dramatic change: she met Hiram Thostenson of Hanley Falls, the man she was to marry, at a dance in the local Palms Ballroom. After a courtship that lasted a few short years, the two were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton on a bitterly cold day in January 1951. What was to follow was a loving marriage and partnership of over 67 years, a union that was in many respects typical of other marriages in that time and place. She and Hiram settled on a farm near Hanley Falls, where they raised four children – Mark, June, Carol, and Jon – and Gladys assumed the myriad duties of a mother, homemaker, and farmer’s wife. While she was an attentive, caring mother and supportive wife, Gladys found time to pursue personal interests, which included being an active member of the Yellow Medicine Lutheran Church as well as a regular participant in her neighborhood homemakers’ club. Her church activities included serving as president of the ALCW, teaching Sunday School classes, attending monthly Circle (Bible study) meetings, providing and serving food (including lefse and lutefisk) at various church activities, and quilting, to name a few. Her decades-long membership in the homemakers’ club gave Gladys the opportunity to try numerous craft and needlework projects, and to forge several lasting friendships.
In their retirement years, Gladys and Hiram moved off the farm to the nearby town of Montevideo, where they spent a quiet life which included visiting old friends for coffee at the Hanley Falls American Legion Hall, as well as attending church services at Yellow Medicine Lutheran. Gladys also formed newer friendships at coffee meetings with neighborhood women in Montevideo. In their later years, as Hiram’s health was declining, Gladys was a constant, devoted caregiver. After Hiram passed away in 2018, Gladys lived alone for a few months, then moved to Luther Haven Nursing Home.
Anyone who knew Gladys would say that she had a ready smile, and a humble yet welcoming personality; she tried to befriend those who were lonely, outcast, or otherwise overlooked. She was a sensitive, caring person whose abiding Christian faith gave her strength to go through difficult times.
Gladys is survived by her children, Mark Thostenson of Wood Lake; June Peteroli of Oak Harbor, WA; Carol (Guadalupe) Martin of Quemado, TX; and Jon (Terri) Thostenson of Hanley Falls; grandchildren, Kathryn (Kai Dunker), James, Carolann (Dave Cook), Antoinette (Ryan Cannon), Elizabeth (Roy Smith), and Joseph (Angela Eischens); eight great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.
Gladys is preceded in death by her husband, Hiram; parents, Oscar and Hannah; daughter-in-law, Cathy Thostenson; son-in-law, Richard Peteroli; and brothers, Floyd Nelson and Ralph Nelson; and numerous other relatives and friends. Blessed be her memory.
Gladys Lorraine Thostenson was born September 13, 1927, near Milan, Minnesota, the third child and only daughter of Oscar and Hannah (Mork) Nelson. She was baptized in the Lutheran faith at Kviteseid Lutheran Church in Milan and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton. Gladys attended a country school near Holloway until the eighth grade, where she was the only student in her class. She spent her high school years at Appleton High School, and graduated as salutatorian with the class of 1945. During her years on the family farm, Gladys regularly assisted with the livestock and household chores, and was a perennial member of the local 4-H club, where she participated in various sewing competitions among other activities.
Upon her high school graduation, Gladys won a scholarship to St. Olaf College, which she attended for one year. She then opted to transfer to a three-year nurse’s training program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where she successfully completed the Registered Nurse’s course in 1949. Though she seldom saw her nursing school classmates after graduation, Gladys kept up a lifelong correspondence with them by mail.
Gladys remained in Minneapolis after receiving her nursing certification and worked in the OB-GYN section at Abbott Northwestern for a year and a half. During this time, she took a weekend trip to Renville, Minnesota with a friend when her life took a dramatic change: she met Hiram Thostenson of Hanley Falls, the man she was to marry, at a dance in the local Palms Ballroom. After a courtship that lasted a few short years, the two were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton on a bitterly cold day in January 1951. What was to follow was a loving marriage and partnership of over 67 years, a union that was in many respects typical of other marriages in that time and place. She and Hiram settled on a farm near Hanley Falls, where they raised four children – Mark, June, Carol, and Jon – and Gladys assumed the myriad duties of a mother, homemaker, and farmer’s wife. While she was an attentive, caring mother and supportive wife, Gladys found time to pursue personal interests, which included being an active member of the Yellow Medicine Lutheran Church as well as a regular participant in her neighborhood homemakers’ club. Her church activities included serving as president of the ALCW, teaching Sunday School classes, attending monthly Circle (Bible study) meetings, providing and serving food (including lefse and lutefisk) at various church activities, and quilting, to name a few. Her decades-long membership in the homemakers’ club gave Gladys the opportunity to try numerous craft and needlework projects, and to forge several lasting friendships.
In their retirement years, Gladys and Hiram moved off the farm to the nearby town of Montevideo, where they spent a quiet life which included visiting old friends for coffee at the Hanley Falls American Legion Hall, as well as attending church services at Yellow Medicine Lutheran. Gladys also formed newer friendships at coffee meetings with neighborhood women in Montevideo. In their later years, as Hiram’s health was declining, Gladys was a constant, devoted caregiver. After Hiram passed away in 2018, Gladys lived alone for a few months, then moved to Luther Haven Nursing Home.
Anyone who knew Gladys would say that she had a ready smile, and a humble yet welcoming personality; she tried to befriend those who were lonely, outcast, or otherwise overlooked. She was a sensitive, caring person whose abiding Christian faith gave her strength to go through difficult times.
Gladys is survived by her children, Mark Thostenson of Wood Lake; June Peteroli of Oak Harbor, WA; Carol (Guadalupe) Martin of Quemado, TX; and Jon (Terri) Thostenson of Hanley Falls; grandchildren, Kathryn (Kai Dunker), James, Carolann (Dave Cook), Antoinette (Ryan Cannon), Elizabeth (Roy Smith), and Joseph (Angela Eischens); eight great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.
Gladys is preceded in death by her husband, Hiram; parents, Oscar and Hannah; daughter-in-law, Cathy Thostenson; son-in-law, Richard Peteroli; and brothers, Floyd Nelson and Ralph Nelson; and numerous other relatives and friends. Blessed be her memory.
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