The funeral service for Lois Staufacker, 97, of Cloquet, MN, formerly of Garvin, will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 24, 2022, at First Congregational Church of Garvin in Garvin MN. Visitation will be Thursday, June 23, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. with a prayer service and sharing of memories at 7:00 p.m. at the Horvath Remembrance Center in Tracy. Visitation will continue on Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at First Congregational Church of Garvin. Interment will follow the service at the Bethel Cemetery in Garvin.
Lois Jane (Fry) Staufacker was born on August 17, 1924 to Alvin and Irene (Helgerson) Fry in Inwood, Iowa. She was baptized in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Inwood and confirmed in the Lutheran Church of George, Iowa. After graduating from George High School, she attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, earning a teaching certificate. She taught in Sheldon and George, Iowa, schools. On June 3, 1947, she and Glennis Dale Staufacker were married in the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church of George. They farmed in the Everly and George, Iowa, area where Steven, Craig, Kristi, and Janine were born. In 1968, the family moved to a farm near Garvin, Minnesota. Kerry was born shortly thereafter. When the children were all in school, Lois worked at the Lyon County DAC where she worked with disabled adults for nineteen years. She continued to work on the farm doing gardening, canning, mowing, and raising chickens. Lois was a member of Nivrag (Garvin women’s club), the Garvin American Legion Auxiliary, and First Congregational Church of Garvin. She served in the Women’s Fellowship, Sunday School, and other roles during her active years at church. She said, “The love of husband, children, and grandchildren was the best of all.” Mom was a faithful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, church, and community member. She was full of faith. Recently, she asked a caregiver at her assisted living home, “Could you get me a ticket to heaven?” On Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the age of 97 years and 10 months, Mom’s wish was granted when her “ticket to heaven” was punched. There to greet her was her husband of 63 years, Glennis; her brother, Wayne and her sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Irene and Ivan, and Earleen and Vernon, and her dear friends, AnnaGene and Don Burke.
Left to cherish her memory and her faithfulness are her children: Steven and Pauline Staufacker of Rapid City, SD, Craig and Mary Staufacker of Garvin, MN, Kristi and Ron Krause of Barnum, MN, Janine Staufacker and Steve Albrecht of Maplewood, MN, and Kerry and Chris Harrelson of Columbia, SC; her 13 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren; 2 nephews and 1 niece and her family; and dear friends, Dale Burke and Linda and Jim Furan and their family.
The family wishes to gratefully acknowledge the dedicated and loving care given by the staff of Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Cloquet as well as St. Croix and Kindred Hospices. We can never thank you enough. Memorials will go to St. Croix Hospice, 1725 Maple Grove Rd in Duluth, MN 55811, or Kindred Hospice 404 Superior St, #290, Duluth, MN 55802, and First Congregational Church of Garvin, 240 Grant St, Garvin, MN 56132.
