Beverly Joyce Lathrop died Friday, Nov. 27, at the age of 88 at Mother of Mercy Nursing Home in Albany, Minn. Funeral services will be held at a later date with burial at the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD. The Houseman Funeral Home – Birk Chapel in Canby is handling the arrangements.
Beverly was born on April 4, 1932, in Lake Benton, and grew up in Thomsenberg, a tiny incorporated town near Hendricks founded by her parents, Marvin and Mamie Thomsen. As a girl, she worked at Marv’s Store, her father’s country store in Thomsenberg, and attended school in Lake Benton and Hendricks. On April 1, 1951, she married Archie (Bud) Lathrop in Hendricks. They lived in Marshall for several years then moved to Rapid City, SD, and later to Hot Springs, SD. There Bev worked several jobs, culminating in her employment at the VA (Veterans Affairs) Hospital as a psychology assistant. Bud died November 26, 1979. While working at the VA Hospital, Bev met Harvey Haugen, and they married on Sept. 3, 1982. They moved to Seattle, WA, and several years later, she purchased her childhood home in Thomsenberg and relocated there in order to be closer again to her parents. Harvey died in 1996. In her later years, Bev became reacquainted with her childhood friend Eldro Juenke of Hendricks. They spent many days together before his death. Beverly had three main hobbies: people, people and people. She loved to visit and always put out coffee and treats for family and her many other visitors. She enjoyed traveling and visited India, England and Norway. She also took a mission trip to Nigeria and an Alaskan cruise. Bev traveled frequently in the United States to visit her children and grandchildren and friends in New York, Seattle and Arizona, and she returned often to Hot Springs to see old friends. She enjoyed watching the birds, deer and wild turkeys that came to the front yard of her childhood farm. In 2017, after residing in the Hendricks Nursing Home for a year, Beverly moved to the St. Cloud area to be closer to her son Mike, and she spent the next three and a half years in memory care at Mother of Mercy Nursing Home in Albany. She received regular visits from Mike and his family, and her son Tom and his wife Cheryl came from their home in Hot Springs to visit periodically. In November, Bev was diagnosed with COVID-19, and within two weeks of her diagnosis, she passed from this world into the next, where she joined her Savior, Jesus.
Beverly is survived by two sons, Mike (Jo) Lathrop and Tom (Cheryl) Lathrop; a daughter-in-law, Claire Lathrop; eight grandchildren, Ben, Carmen, Jozeca, Lee, Courtney, Kelli, Stacy and Matthew; 22 great-grandchildren; a sister- in-law, Merna Thomsen; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Marvin and Mamie Thomsen; her first husband, Archie Lathrop; her second husband, Harvey Haugen; a son, Marvin Lathrop; a granddaughter, Rebecca Joyce; a grandson, Stevie; a brother, Arnold Thomsen; and two sisters, Mavis Newell and Sylvia Dahl Nielsen.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be sent to The Gardens at Mother of Mercy, PO Box 676, Albany, MN 56307. Please indicate that gifts are given “in memory of Beverly Lathrop for the enhancement of care for patients on first floor.”
