Randolph Ellefson

Randolph "Bud" Ellefson, age 95, of Willmar, died Friday evening, August 31, at Bethesda Heritage Center Nursing Home in Willmar.
Funeral services will be 7 P.M. Tuesday, September 4, at Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar. Interment will be 4 P.M. Tuesday in Cloverleaf Memorial Cemetery in Willmar. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Funeral arrangements are with Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar. Memorials are preferred to Rice Hospice or the Bethesda Foundation.
Randolph "Bud" Ellefson was born April 26, 1912, in Willmar, the son of Ludwig and Lillie (Simonson) Ellefson. He grew up in the Willmar, was baptized and confirmed at Vinje Lutheran Church and graduated from Willmar High School in 1930. He graduated from St. Olaf College in 1934. He went to work for Gamble Stores in Wahpeton, North Dakota and, later, West Point, Nebraska. In 1935, he began farming. He farmed near Kandiyohi for 20 years and later farmed west of Willmar. On June 8, 1941, he married Thelma Hagen at the North Waseca Lutheran Church. He served as clerk of the Whittier School for five years and was a member of the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Posse and the Golden Kiwanis.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma of Willmar; his children, Linda (and John) Carlson of Marquette, Michigan, Mark (and Bea) Ellefson of Brooklyn Center, Mary (and John) Latham of San Mateo, California, and Dikka (and Jeff Brummer of Burnsville; seventeen grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren; a sister, Evelyn Kieffer of Faribault; and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers, Clarence Ellefson and Willie Ellefson.