Viola Fransen

Viola Esther Fransen, age 101, of Pennock, died Sunday evening, October 11th, at the Rice Care Center in Willmar.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 17, at St. John's Lutheran Church near Pennock. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-8 PM on Friday, Oct. 16, at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar and will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.

Viola was born on November 21, 1907, in Willmar, Minnesota, the daughter of Paul and Frieda (Linman) Peterson. She grew up in Willmar, was baptized at the First Covenant Church, graduated from Willmar High School in 1925 and received her teachers training through St. Cloud State University. On August 17, 1928, Viola was united in marriage to Ernest S. Fransen and they made their home on a dairy farm near Pennock. Viola was employed as a teacher for over 20 years in the rural Pennock and Willmar schools. She was a longtime member of St. John's Lutheran Church of Pennock where she served as a bible school teacher and on various womens committees. In 2002, Viola entered the Rice Care Center. She enjoyed knitting, sewing, cooking, oil painting, music and playing games with children.

She is survived by two daughters, Maxine Groves of Hudson, Wisconsin and Jeanne Thayer of Park Rapids; nine grandchildren, twenty-one great grandchildren and nineteen great great grandchildren, besides other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Ernest in 1985; one son, Bruce in 1963; two brothers, Earl and Paul Peterson and two sisters, Nettie Stenberg and Luella Tallakson.