Svedin, Larry
B:
M: 05 Jan 1946, Josephine Cornelia Unknown b. 22 Sep 1918 d. 30 Sep 2003

FN: Unknown Svedin
MN: Unknown

Children of Larry Svedin and Josephine Cornelia Unknown:

Duane Svedin
B:
D:

Lorraine Svedin
B:
M: Unknown Helms

Evie Svedin
B:
M: Brien-Wells

Ronald Svedin
B:

Leonard Svedin
B:

Josephine Svedin

Kittson County Enterprise Obituary, 15 Oct 2003

Wasilla, Alaska

Josephine Cornelia Svedin, 85, died Sept. 30, 2003, at the Palmer Pioneer's Home.

She was born Sept. 22, 1918, in the southern Minnesota town of Ash Creek. She was the eldest of eight children, and, as such, was her father's "hired man" along with her brothers. Her family later moved to northern Iowa.

Jo attended a one room country school during her early school years; she graduated from Buffalo Center High School in 1938. She earned her R.N. degree from Lutheran Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis and then attended the University of Minnesota for a year of public health training.

Her plan to serve as a medical missionary overseas was curtailed by a stomach ulcer, so she accepted a position as a county public health nurse in northern Minnesota instead.

While living in Minneapolis, Jo started corresponding with Larry Svedin, a soldier serving in the Hawaiian Islands who was a cousin of a friend. Their wartime courtship by letter continued until Larry's discharge from the Army in October, 1945. They were married in Iowa on Jan. 5, 1946, and made their home near Hallock. Her moves were progressively north which she found amusing since she hated the cold!

Jo was a full-time mother until the early 1960's when she returned to hospital nursing. In addition to working in public health, hospital, and nursing homes, she worked as an on-call special nurse for seriously ill patients. She was active in migrant children's health screening; she especially loved holding the babies of the migrant sugar beet workers. She was involved in the hospice program and the American Cancer Society. Her faith was apparent ini her compassionate treatment of patients, family members and friends. She retired in 1982 and she was able to enjoy vegetable and flower gardening full-time.

She loved listening to classical music and encouraged the love of music in her children. She enjoyed freezing and canning produce from her acre-large garden. There were only a few years during her 40s that her inexhaustable energy failed her when she successfully battled thyroid cancer. She was very grateful that cancer surgery did not leave her unable to sing.

She and Larry moved to Wasilla, Alaska in 1995 to be near their children. She was a resident of the Anchorage Pioneer's Home before being accepted into the Palmer Pioneer's Home where she was lovingly cared for until her death.

Josephine is survived by her husband, Larry, and four children: Lorraine Helms, Wasilla, Alaska; Evie Brien-Wells, Texas; Ronald, Palmer, Alaska; and Leonard, Anchorage, Alaska; nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, three sisters, and two brothers.

Her son, Duane, and two brothers preceded her in death.

A memorial service was held Saturday, Oct. 4, 2003 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wasilla, Alaska at 10:30 a.m. Her grandchildren served as pallbearers.

She will be buried next summer near Hallock, next to her son, Duane. Memorial donations can be made to the Activities Department of the Palmer Pioneer's Home or to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for the purchase of landscaping plants.

Arrangements were with Valley Funeral Home and Crematory in Wasilla, Alaska.