Funeral services for 91-year-old Tina Duerksen of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, August 21, 2017, at Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake. The church is located at 301 9th Street North.
Interment will be in Mountain Lake City Cemetery, located on 10th Street North at Midway Road.
Visitation will be at Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel on Sunday, August 20, 2017, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The funeral home is located at 420 10th Street North. A second visitation will be held at the church the day of the service from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at: www.sturmfh.com.
Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel is handling the arrangements.
Tina Duerksen was born on June 22, 1926 in Cottonwood County, the daughter of Peter and Maria (Buller) Krause. She was dedicated in the Mennonite faith on June 22, 1927 and baptized June 1, 1941. She attended country school and graduated from the eighth grade in 1942 from School District 62. She attended Winter Bible School from 1942 to 1946, graduating with a teacher’s certificate. She then attended Grace Bible Institute (today, Grace University) in Omaha, Nebraska, until returning home to care for her mother.
In 1949, she was united in marriage to John J. Duerksen at Gospel Mennonite Church (today, Lakeview Gospel Church) in Mountain Lake. Three sons, Art, Arnold and Arden were born to this union. After their wedding, they farmed in the Delft, Minnesota and Windom, Minnesota areas until purchasing a grocery store in Delft in 1970. During this time, Tina helped on the farm, kept books for John’s spraying business and cared for her children and her nieces and nephews. Following the purchase of the grocery store, Tina worked in the store, serving many customers her homemade lunches.
In 1979, the couple moved to Mountain Lake, where they resided up until two years ago, when Tina moved to the Parkwood Apartments in Mountain Lake following John’s death. She moved to the Good Samaritan Society-The Village in Mountain Lake within the last two months.
While living in Mountain Lake, Tina began working at Balzer Manufacturing in 1997 and was promoted to Parts Manager. She worked there for nine years. From 1990 to 1997, she worked in the Mountain Lake Co-op C-store.
Tina was a member of the Gospel Mennonite Church (now, Lakeview Gospel Church) until 1999, where she taught VBS (Vacation Bible School) for one year and sang in a trio for many years. In 1999, she and John transferred their membership to Bethel Mennonite Church.
Tina enjoyed gardening, fishing with John, sports – especially the Minnesota Vikings, embroidery and fabric painting. She loved cooking and caring for her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Tina was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, John; son, Arnold; brothers and their wives, Peter (Ann) Krause, John (Emma) Krause, David (Wilma) Krause, Jake Krause, Abe (Ruby) Krause and sisters and their husbands, Sarah (Londo) Regehr, Anna (Alvin) Baerg, in-laws Matilda and Albert Thiessen, Martha Pieske, Georgine and Tex Duerksen and Ervin Duerksen, Don Dick.
Survivors include her sons, Art (Pat) Duerksen of Glen Elder, Kansas and Arden (Simona) Duerksen of Colorado Springs, Colorado; daughter-in-law, Judy Duerksen of Mountain Lake; sister, Marie Calander; in-laws, DeLoss Pieske, Marion (Harold) Thiessen, Myrtle (Arnie) Quiring and Myrna (Hugh) Long; six grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.