Swanson Peterson Funeral Home

V. Adeline Hokkanen age 88, longtime resident of Annandale, MN passed away on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at Annandale Care Center.

Funeral Services will be held 11:00 am Saturday, March 9, at Good Shepherd Free Lutheran Church, Cokato, MN with Pastor Rob Edward officiating. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery of French Lake Township. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Friday, March 8, at Good Shepherd Free Lutheran Church, Cokato, MN and one hour prior to the service on Saturday.

Adeline is survived by her children, Darlene Zylstra of Maple Lake, Patty (Steve) Hohag of St. Michael, and Ken (Bev) Hokkanen of Poinciana FL; sister Jean Neuhardt; grandchildren Kelley (Erik) Johnson, Joe (Jody) Zylstra, Alison (Ben) Menk, Ryan (Lisa) Zylstra, Ben (Laurie) Hokkanen, and Sara (Mike Soley) Hokkanen; twelve great-grandchildren; and many relatives and friends.

Adeline was preceded in death by her parents, Leonard R. and Edla E. Lappi; husband Howard; brother Robert; son-in-law David Zylstra; and granddaughter Ashley Zylstra.

Adeline, the daughter of Leonard and Edla Lappi was born on their farm in French Lake Township on December 26, 1930. She attended French Lake country school and Annandale High School, graduating in 1948. On April 23, 1949 she was united in marriage to Howard Hokkanen at the Apostolic Church Parsonage in Cokato. They lived and worked on the Hokkanen family farm near West Albion. In 1977 they built a new home on the farm and enjoyed living there for 36 years. Adeline was a housewife and helped on the farm. In 1962 they stopped dairy farming and continued to crop farm. Also in 1962 Howard started working for the Agriculture and Stabilization and Conservation (A.S.C.) as a Federal Crop Insurance Agent for Wright, Hennepin and Carver counties and Adeline was his business associate. In 1973 when Howard became the Manager for the Cokato Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Adeline continued to work as his business associate for 23 years.

Adeline enjoyed cooking and baking for family and friends and hosted many people who dropped in to visit

Norman D. Gulson was born on April 19, 1935 in Howard Lake, Minnesota to Louis and Leona (Krohn) Gulso. Norman was baptized at St. James Lutheran Church on May 19, 1935, and Confirmed in his faith there on April 27, 1996. His confirmation verse was I John 4:16: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us, God is love, Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Norman grew up on the family farm South West of Howard Lake, he has spent the last 16 years in the care of Mikkenen Homes of Cokato. He worked at Functional Industries doing many different tasks. He enjoyed: gardening and flowers, old movies (3 stuges and westerns) and liked to tease and crack jokes. He collected pens and hats, and did paper work.
Norman passed away at his home in Cokato on February 23, 2019. He had reached the age of 84 years, 10 months and 4 days. Survivors include his brother Stanley Gulso of Buffalo, Sister Jeanette (James) Barrett of Alexandria, nieces, nephews other relatives and friends
Norman was preceded in death by: his parents Louis and Leona.
Funeral Service: 2PM Thursday, February 28, 2019 at St. James Lutheran Church of Howard Lake.
Visitation: begins at church at 1pm on Thursday.
Spring interment: Howard Lake Cemetery.

Lester Strohschein of Howard Lake passed away at St. Mary’s Care center of Winsted on February 18, 2019.
Funeral Service: 2 PM Friday, February 22, 2019 at St. James Lutheran Church of Howard Lake
Visitation: 4-8 PM Thursday at Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home of Howard Lake and 1 hr. prior to service at church on Friday
Interment: Howard Lake Cemetery
Lester Fred Charley Strohschein, age 92, died peacefully surrounded by family on February 18, 2019, at the St. Mary’s Care Center in Winsted, MN. Lester was born on September 2, 1926, in Lydia (Scott County) MN to Arthur H. and Martha (Rotsolk) Strohschein.

Along with his twin brother Lawrence Strohschein, he was baptized at Immanual Lutheran Church, Fish Lake, MN in 1926 and was confirmed in his faith on March 17, 1940 at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Watertown, MN.

Lester entered the Navy on August 31, 1944, and was honorably discharged on July 21, 1946. Following this, he attended Dunwoody Institute in the cabinetry program. Lester worked for ABC Cabinetry and also for Goebel Fixture Company in Hutchinson, MN for 35 years, retiring on March 22, 1989. Lester also made many kitchen cabinets for local people in the Howard Lake area.

Lester married Darlene Rannow on September 16, 1951. Their marriage of 68 years was blessed with two children, Denton and Jody.

Lester enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Camping, deer hunting, and taking his young grandsons fishing were a great joy for him. Every year for Christmas he brought a “new toy” made of wood—not just three, but a total of six. Playing cards was always a highlight—you never knew who would be cheating the most. He also filled his time with jigsaw puzzles and craft sales. He and Darlene also spent a few months in Arizona in the winter to get away from the cold.

Lester was a member of and served as an Elder at St. James Lutheran Church. A carpenter by trade, he helped with many projects in and around the church building—including the communion rails, pledge card box, the guest book podium, and the sign in front of the church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Martha Strohschein; brothers-in-law Jim Ryan, Myrle Wagner, and Earl Wagner; and niece Pam Strohschein.

Lester is survived by his wife, Darlene; children Denton (Janice) and Jody; twin brother Lawrence (Gladys); sister Mildred (Jim) Ryan; sisters-in-law Arlene (Earl) Wagner and Hildegard (Myrle) Wagner; three grandsons, nieces, nephews, and a host of other relatives and friends.

Carolynn Marie Thompson Passed away on February 13, 2019 at Cokato Manor.
Funeral Service: 2 PM Saturday, February 16, 2019 at Immanuel Lutheran Church North of Cokato in French Lake Township
Visitation: 4-7 PM Friday at Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home of Cokato, and 1 hr prior to service at church on Saturday.
Interment: Grace Lutheran Cemetery
Carolynn Marie (Erickson) Thompson was born October 26, 1942 in French Lake, Minnesota to Della (Kotila) and Edwin Erickson. She grew up on the family farm and attended and graduated from the rural Lee School just a mile west of their farm place. She then attended Annandale High School where she graduated in the spring of 1960. Later that summer, she was married to David Thompson of Kingston, Minnesota. They resided locally, and Carolynn began her bookkeeping career working for various companies.

In 1966 Carolynn and David moved to California where Carolynn continued her bookkeeping career and David pursued further education. In 1967, Carolynn moved back to Minnesota where she began bookkeeping for her father in his lumberyard, then later worked for the Cokato Co-op for a number of years. Carolynn also was a co-owner and cook with her aunt Impie Olson, of the Log Cabin Café, a restaurant in Cokato. Carolynn was last employed by her brother Tim as bookkeeper for his asphalt plant in Sauk Center, Minnesota.

Carolynn enjoyed music, playing the piano (by ear) as well as the accordion for fun and for home Bible studies. She loved to listen to musical artists such as Patti Page and Elvis, and also enjoyed hymns, gospel, and big band music.

Carolynn was an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church of French Lake. She was a pianist, a Sunday School teacher, and helped organize the music for the church. She loved living in and being a part of the French Lake community. She loved her little red house in which she was raised and where she came back to live until she moved to Cokato Manor in 2008. Carolynn died at the Manor Wednesday evening, February 13th at the age of 76.

She is survived by her sisters Mary (Dan) Rinden of Cokato, and Therese (Jeff) Grumley of Rockford, IL; brothers Tim Erickson of Cokato, and Mark (Mary) Erickson of French Lake; and many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

Carolynn was preceded in death by her parents: Edwin and Della Erickson; a brother, Gary Erickson; and a brother-in-law, Steve Hess.

Gertrude Weller passed away at her home North of Howard Lake on February 11, 2019.
Memorial Service: 2 PM Saturday, February 23, 2019 at Buffalo Community Assembly of God Church, 206 2nd Avenue NE, Buffalo, MN.
Visitation will begin at 1PM at Church.
Gertrude Helen Weller was born in Zumbrota, Minnesota, on January 26, 1940, to Frank and Lillian (Votava) Warn. She grew up in West St. Paul and attended school there. As a young girl, she spent summers on the Clifford Boeson (her cousin’s) farm.
She loved farm life and animals and named all the cows and pigs. She always wanted to be outside, usually in the garden picking and eating the harvest. When the gardening got to be too much, she’d get together with her brother Ed to enjoy the fruits of his gardening labor. She liked to sing along with the radio and dance at weddings. She loved people, talking with them and arguing with them. She was always right even when she was wrong. She was energetic and hated being trapped indoors. She had cabin fever all the time and would leave the house at any excuse, even the smallest errand.
Gertrude worked at the Buffalo Walmart for 20 years. She enjoyed working with everyone there. She went to one of the shareholder meetings in Bentonville, Arkansas, and met Mrs. Walton. According to Gertrude, she was a lovely lady.
Gertrude passed away at home north of Howard Lake on February 11, 2019. She had reached the age of 79 years and 25 days.
Survivors include husband Richard Weller; sons Frank Bulock and William Roth; daughter Marla Weller; grandchildren April and Travis; great-grandchildren Victoria, Rachel, Arianna, and Baylee; brother Ed Warn; stepchildren David (Carol) Weller, Kathleen Portz, Debbie Weller, and Brian Weller; and many step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by daughter Dawn and stepson Bruce; sisters Alice and Irene; and second husband George Bulock.