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Sep
15

Hedlund, Opal Elaine 93

 

Opal Elaine (Longwell) Hedlund

Opal Elaine (Longwell) Hedlund, age 93, died Thursday, September 12, 2013. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 21 at 11:00 A.M. at North Crow River Lutheran Church, rural Cokato with Rev. Michael Nelson officiating.  Interment will be at Sunset Cemetery immediately following the services. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 P.M. on Friday, September 20 at North Crow River Lutheran Church and one hour prior to the services.

Opal was born on February 24, 1920 in Maine Prairie Township, Stearns County Minnesota to Frank and Edith (Cornall) Longwell.  She grew up in Maine Prairie Township, attending country school at Brown School District 32.  She attended Kimball High School and was a 1938 graduate.

Opal married William Sexton Hedlund on June 29, 1940 at the Kimball Church of Christ parsonage.  They initially made their home on the Hedlund family farm and briefly farmed with Sexton’s brother Hjalmer near Rothsay, Minnesota.  During WW II they moved to the San Francisco, California area for a short time while Sexton worked in the naval shipyards.  They returned to Minnesota and eventually purchased a farm adjacent to the Hedlund family farm in Kingston Township where she lived her remaining years.  Opal spent most of her adult life as a mother and farm wife, but also worked for a number of years at Fabri-Tek Manufacturing  in Cokato.  She was an accomplished seamstress and loved to crochet and quilt.

Opal is survived by her five children, Kay Anderson of Dassel, Dean of Annandale, Darrel (Nancy) of Kingston, Linda (Alan) Hewitt of Kasota, and Dale of Kingston.  She is also survived by 9 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Sexton in 1994, son-in-law Jim Anderson, brothers LaVerne and Merton, sisters Alvina Ferrier and Lois Rinkel.

Opal was a member of the Litchfield chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Kingston American Legion Auxiliary, Kingston Garden Club, and Grace Lutheran Church.

A thank you goes out to the Pouliot family, Yvonne Russ, and other friends, neighbors, and relatives who were so kind to Opal over the past few years.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Grace Lutheran Church, Sunset Cemetery Association, Kingston Legion Auxiliary, or donor’s choice.