Elaine Herr

Elaine Herr 88 of Webster died Sunday November 22, 2015 at Rochester, MN. Her funeral will be 1:30 P.M. Friday November 27, 2015 at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Webster, Rev. Will Olsen will officiate. Burial will be in the Bethany Cemetery, rural Bristol. Visitation will begin at 12:30 P.M. prior to the service at the church. Elaine Marie Townsend was born on Wednesday, December 29, 1926 to Howard and Elizabeth Marie (Torguson) Townsend at her grandparent’s home in Farmington Township, Day County, South Dakota near Pierpont. She was baptized and confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Pierpont. She attended country school near her home and graduated from Pierpont High School in 1945. Upon graduation, she moved to Arlington, Virginia and worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Department of the Navy for two years. She moved back to Aberdeen, South Dakota where she worked for the Internal Revenue Service. She was united in marriage to Harold Herr on November 20, 1949 at Pierpont, South Dakota. They made their home in Webster where she was a homemaker raising her family. When her youngest started school, she began working as the curator at the Day County Museum and then was one of the original founders of Dacotah, Inc. where she began sewing quilts and later worked in the accounting department. Harold passed away in 1991. She retired in 1994 and enjoyed her retirement in Webster. She was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Webster were she was active in W.E.L.C.A., the Hanna Circle and taught Sunday School. She was a Girl Scout Leader, a Northeast Area Director of Girl Scouts and a founding member of the Junior Websterian Club. She enjoyed gardening, playing bridge and entertaining. She especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Elaine passed away on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at Rochester, Minnesota at the age of 88 years, 10 months and 24 days. Survivors include one son, Eugene (Carla) Herr of Aberdeen, SD; four daughters, LeAnn (Rick) Wolf of Reading, PA, Jackie (Steve) Hanson of Mendota Heights, MN, Susan (Russ) Hanson of White Bear Lake, MN and Karen Kaml of Brooklyn Park, MN; fourteen grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren; one brother, Norman (Doris) Townsend of Pierpont, SD; and two sisters, Delores Herrick of Madera, CA and Velma (Mel) Pibal of Minneapolis, MN. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, one sister, one brother, a son-in-law and a great grandson.