Leone Hedlund

Leone M. Hedlund, age 91, of New London and formerly of Willmar and Atwater, died Sunday morning, February 12, at Glen Oaks Care Suites in New London.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Atwater.  A family interment will be prior to the service at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery in Willmar. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Immanuel Lutheran Church of the Atwater American Legion Auxiliary are preferred.
Leone Margaret Hedlund was born on August 22, 1925 in Grove City, Minnesota, the daughter of Hazel Idella (Berglund) Brown and F. LeRoy Brown.  The family moved to Hazel Run, Minnesota where they operated a restaurant until 1929.  They then moved to the family farm near Kandiyohi, Minnesota where she attended District 78 rural school, was baptized and  confirmed at Hope Presbyterian Church in Spicer and graduated from Willmar High School in 1942. Leone continued her education by attending teacher training in Litchfield and then taught in Districts #58 and #79 rural schools. On June 21, 1947, Leone was married to Walter Wallace Hedlund until his death in 1991 and they lived in the Atwater community where Leone was an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, involved in music and numerous women's groups.  She was an active member of the Atwater Legion Auxiliary for over 50 years as well as many other community activities.  She was married to Russell Olson from 1994 until 2008.  She moved to Willmar in 2009 and to the Glen Oaks campus in 2015.  She loved to read, travel, and to try new foods and recipes.  She continued to love playing cards and bingo!  Until slowed by her stroke, she was always busy with some project or another, whether knitting, sewing, gardening, doing house upkeep or helping others.

She is survived by two daughters, Dr. Linda Hedlund of Spicer and Melanie Hedlund of Lexington, MA, as well as five grandchildren, Kari Balomas, Anders Gilstad; Ezra, Adlai and Mirabel Winston and three great-grandchildren, Lena and Alexander Balomas and Jemma Ferrington, besides other relatives and friends.

Leone was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Walter.

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