Sally Ann McFadden, 67, Luverne, died Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2001, at Hospice Cottage in Luverne.

Sally Hahn was born to James and Ruth Naomi (Cogley) Pendleton on Sept. 19, 1934, in Sioux City, Iowa. The family settled in Hartington, Neb., where she graduated from high school in May 1952.

She married Joseph Arnette McFadden on Jan. 7, 1956, at Hartington Holy Trinity Church in Hartington. The couple lived in Omaha, Neb., Iowa, Minneapolis and St. Peter before moving to Luverne.

She received her associate of arts degree in business from Worthington Community College. She worked as a legal secretary for Robert L. Mabee Law Offices in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Mrs. McFadden's greatest devotion and contribution was to The Theater, as a "founding mother" of Green Earth Players in 1978, and as she continued to nurture this now well-established and award-winning community theater group in various capacities, including artistic director, board president, producer, costume and prop master and actress. She was an active participant, supporter and leading organizer for numerous local organizations and events, including Girl Scouts, Buffalo Days, teaching swimming and aquarobics and many arts organizations. She was also active at St. Catherine Catholic Church for many years.

Survivors include her stepmother, Serine Hahn (Flom) Silbert, Hartington; her ex-husband, Joe McFadden, Brooklyn Center; five children, Julia Sarah McFadden, Ann Marie McFadden, Patrick Joseph McFadden and Timothy James McFadden, all of Minneapolis, and Maggie (Margaret Jean) McFadden, Bozeman, Mont.; one sister, Rosa Ayer, Seattle, Wash.; numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews; families of McFadden, Noecker, Rosenbach, OÕGara, Lipinksi, Burbach and Hahn; and Carla White, New York, N.Y.
Mrs. McFadden was preceded in death by her parents, stepfather, Eddie Aaron Silbert; one brother, "Bud" Hahn, and a half-sister, Connie Voznica.

Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Irid A. Eitreim, 79, Garretson, S.D., formerly of Beaver Creek, died Friday, Nov. 9, 2001, at Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne.

Services were Monday, Nov. 12, at Palisade Lutheran Church, rural Garretson. A private family burial was in West Palisade Cemetery.

Irid Eitreim was born to Willie and Julia Eitreim on April 14, 1922, in Rock County. He graduated from Beaver Creek High School in 1940. He entered the U.S. Army in 1942 and served in the 101st Airborne from November 1942 until December 1945, serving in Normandy, France, Holland, Bastogne, Belgium and Germany.

He married Caryl Jones on April 22, 1948, at Red Bank, N.J. He moved back to Rock County and farmed until 1984. He then worked for Southwest Mutual Insurance Co. until 1997.

One of his life pleasures was singing. Mr. Eitreim was a member of the Rock-Minnehaha Male Chorus and Norse Glee Club. He also served on the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board and was a member of the Garretson American Legion. He was a member of Palisade Lutheran Church.

Survivors include his wife, Caryl Eitreim, Garretson; two sons, Jeffrey Eitreim and his wife, Dianne, Long Lake, and Gregory Eitreim, Champlin; one daughter, Nancy Vikman and her husband, Edwin, Denver, Colo.; three grandchildren, Stephanie Bowron, Scott Eitreim and Steven Eitreim; two great-grandchildren, Isak Bowron and Caleb Bowron; seven brothers and sisters, Bernice Miller, Dorothy Oien, both of Sioux Falls, Shirley Knowlton, Austin, Warren Eitreim, Parker, S.D., Donald Eitreim, Lady Lake, Fla., Mildred Larson, Armour, S.D., and Milton Eitreim, Sun Lakes, Ariz., and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be directed to the Palisade Cemetery Association or the Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Minnehaha Funeral Home, Garretson, was in charge of arrangements.

Vyron H.W. Wacker, 75, Luverne, died Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001, at Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne.

Funeral services were Thursday, Nov. 15, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Revs. Dell B. Sanderson and Maurice E. Hagen officiated. Burial was in Luverne Memorial Gardens Cemetery, rural Luverne.

Vyron Wacker was born to Harry and Cecilia (Dengler) Wacker on Sept. 2, 1926, in Rock Rapids, Iowa, where he was raised and attended Rock Rapids High School.

He married Mary Ann Dirks on Oct. 3, 1947, in Rock Rapids. Following their marriage they lived and farmed north of Luverne. In December 1953 they moved to a farm south of Luverne where he farmed until 1989. They then moved to their current home in Luverne. He began working for Farmers Union Co-op in Luverne. He entered Luverne Hospice Cottage on Nov. 5.

Mr. Wacker was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne and a member of Luverne Lions Club. He enjoyed woodworking, fishing and playing cards, especially pinochle.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Wacker, Luverne; two sons and daughters-in-law, Ralph and Lynn Wacker, Arlington, and Ron and Lona Wacker, Eagan; two daughters and sons-in-law, Carla and Lee LaBore, Shorewood, and Barbara and Patrick Sanger, Dallas, Texas; four grandchildren and one expected in January; and one sister, Lois Dieterman, Sutherland, Iowa.

Mr. Wacker was preceded in death by his parents, and one daughter, Sandra Wacker.

Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Leila Olson, 91, Adrian, died Saturday, Nov. 10, 2001, at Arnold Memorial Nursing Home in Adrian.

Memorial services were Wednesday, Nov. 14, at United Methodist Church in Adrian. The Rev. Chris Johnson officiated. Burial of the cremains will be at Oakmont Memorial Park in Lafayette, Calif.

Leila Ashby was born to Ira and Clara (Coss) Ashby on Aug. 14, 1910, in Arrowsmith, Ill. She attended country school near Magnolia prior to attending and graduating from Magnolia High School.

She married Almer N. Olson on March 10, 1935, in Sioux Falls, S.D. After their marriage they lived in Magnolia before moving to California in 1940. Mr. Olson worked on the Oakland Bay Bridge, and she worked as a salesperson in a dime store. During the war years she was a homemaker. In 1981 she moved to Adrian where she lived in the renovated Slade Hotel. She moved to Arnold Memorial Nursing Home in September 2001.

Mrs. Olson was a member of United Methodist Church in Adrian and also a member of the Royal Neighbors of America. She enjoyed playing cards and Senior Citizen activities. She also enjoyed receiving news and pictures of her great-grandchildren and traveling with her husband and friend while in California.

Survivors include her son, Wayne (Happy) Olson, El Cerrito Calif.; two grandsons, Jon (Christe) Olson and Mike Olson; two great-grandsons; one brother, Howard (Ruth) Ashby, Luverne; one sister, Helen Rogers, Golden, Colo.; sister-in-law, Delores Ashby, Adrian; and several nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Olson was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Almer, three brothers and three sisters.

Dingmann Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Adrian, was in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne girls' hockey team stumbled out of the blocks to start the 2001-02 season by taking an 8-0 drubbing in New Ulm Tuesday.

Eagle goalie Jenny Neveln blanked the Cardinals by making 13 saves, and the New Ulm offense peppered LHS net-minder Bethany Rosenberg with 35 shots overall while scoring at least two goals in every period.

Ashley Dietz and Nikki Williams scored a combined six goals to lead the assault turned in by the Eagles.

Dietz found the net four times, including a three-goal effort in the second period. Williams scored goals in the game's first and third periods.

Dietz opened the scoring 1:41 into the game with an unassisted tally.

Williams scored her first goal at the 5:10 mark of the opening stanza, and New Ulm's Jocelyn Janni added a tally 25 seconds later to make it a 3-0 game.

With Dietz scoring three goals in a 10-minute span in the second period, New Ulm opened a commanding 6-0 advantage.

Eagle Angie Seifert found the net at the 11:03 mark of the third period before Williams ended the scoring with her second goal that came with 4:02 left to play.

Luverne, which had five shots in the first and third periods and two in the second, will open the home portion of its schedule at 2 p.m. Saturday against Mankato East. The Cards host Fairmont at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Some people are blessed with the knowledge that they are destined to follow a certain path in life. Luverne native Teri (Busse) Hady knew at a very young age what path she would choose. She was called to help people by becoming a nurse.

"I always wanted to be a surgical nurse. I had to take little tests to see what I wanted to do in the seventh grade. I knew right away I wanted to work in the operating room," said Teri.

She currently works as a cardiac surgical nurse for Dr. Dearani, M.D., a cardiac and transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. In addition to her duties for Dr. Dearani, Teri assists in heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants.

Mayo Clinic, a renowned medical center, offers cutting edge medical treatments, including organ transplants.

Methodist and St. Mary's hospitals are both located in Rochester. Each hospital specializes in different areas, but both are under the canopy of the Mayo Clinic.
When Teri is on call for transplants she must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For heart transplants she is on call one week out of five, for liver three weeks out of six. If her on call time overlaps she must find someone to cover for her.

Teri said she has seen many advances in transplant surgery. For example, in the past, a liver transplant patient would have been put on a bypass machine. Now the surgeons are more familiar with the operation so the surgery is performed without the by-pass. Bypass is used only in extremely complicated surgeries.

Living related donor liver transplants are also performed. Mayo Clinic is one of the few places in the United States approved for this procedure.

Teri has worked on both ends of the transplant procedure. She was a member of a retrieval team before she switched to the transplant team. Fear of flying was the reason for her switch.

Previously, she would have traveled anywhere in the transplant region of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or Wisconsin with little notice.

A transplant team includes two surgical nurses, one surgical tech, a resident and surgeon.

Organs have maximum time limits between retrieval and transplant completion. Completion means in the patient and functioning normally.

Hearts must be transplanted within four hours, livers within 12 hours, lungs within eight hours and kidneys within 24 hours.

Teri has assisted on numerous surgeries, but recently she was on the team for Beaver Creek resident Ron RaukÕs liver transplant.

Teri said she talked with the family before the surgery to let them know she would be assisting. "The family of the patient is under so much stress with a million and one things happening. I just wanted to say it would be all right," Teri said.

"I know that I am helping someone live a longer life. I know that they are going to have a better life. Some are so sick before surgery they can hardly get out of bed. Liver surgeries are especially rewarding because the patient recovers so quickly. They can go back to living the life they used to live."

Teri encourages everyone to talk to their family members if they are interested in organ donation and have their wishes put on their driver's license.

"So many patients die daily that are waiting for an organ. They are the gift of life. It's the greatest gift you can give another person," she said.

Teri and her husband, Steve, live in Rochester. She is the daughter of Ken and Janice Busse, Luverne.

Bauer is easily recognizable as the owner of Luverne's Pizza Ranch.

Harrison said, "Lila has donated money toward Kids Teaching Kids. She is an ambassador of good will in our community. She is known for giving away free pizza coupons to anyone she discovers that has accomplished something that deserves recognition or reward."

Harrison said, "She has welcomed school children to come for a very special field trip experience where they make their own pizza, accompanied by the beverage of their choice and they leave with a free mini pizza coupon."

Harrison also pointed out that Bauer is a major employer of people with special needs.

Bauer said, "We hire a lot of kids with special needs to give them some kind of skill to use." She said some employees fold boxes and clean and aren't always seen by customers even though their work is valuable. Bauer said many of those workers take a real ownership in their duties and gain a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Marie Atkinson-Smeins said of Bauer in a nomination letter, "Lila is such a positive person. She is very supportive of the school. She has provided us with Student of the Week pizza coupons for the last few years. She has given the school a deal many times when we have ordered pizza."

Bauer said she enjoys the way her job connects her to the school, especially through the kindergarten tours. "It's their one big trip for the year," she said.

"This is just what we do. It's not an effort or anything," she said.

Friends of Education are nominated by LEA members and decided on by the past five Friends of Education.

Five nurses provide skilled care for Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital. They are (front row, from left) LPN Terri Steensma, RN Audrey DeBoer, (back) LPN Beth Duwenhoegger, RN Sara Lanoue and Hospice Clinical Director Linda Reisdorfer, RN.

By Lori Ehde
For terminally ill patients coming to terms with hopes and fears in their final days, hospice nurses are often more than the health care workers checking vital signs.

They become the patient's connection to an end-of-life system that includes doctors, social workers, chaplains, home health care aides and trained volunteers.

For these nurses, caring for hospice patients presents unique challenges and opportunities.

"I never thought I could do this," said LPN Terri Steensma. "I wondered, 'How could you do this - deal with dying people?"

Steensma, like the other four nurses involved with Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital, quickly learned the work has its rewards.

"I think we have a special place with our patients, their families and with our team," said RN Audrey DeBoer. "It's more than just nursing."

She said the rewards of endearing friendships balance the stresses of dealing with end-of-life issues.

"Do we shed tears? Yes we do," she said. "But you get a God-given grace to deal with that and get you through it."

Hospice nurses most commonly work with family members to help patients, but sometimes their work is solo.

"There have been times when we're the only ones there for them," said RN Sara Lanoue. "We're happy we can do it. We're happy to have the hospice concept that allows us to do that."

The nurses all know about each others' patients and work together to provide the care best suited for each patient.

The goal of hospice is to keep patients as pain-free as possible, with loved ones nearby, until death arrives.

During regular visits, hospice nurses assess patients' pain, as well as other symptoms, check vital signs, make necessary changes in medication or treatment, and communicate with the patients' doctors.

At the same time, hospice nurses work closely with the patients' families - especially primary care givers - to teach them how to care for patients at home and keep them updated on the patients' conditions and what to expect.

These skilled visits can be in patients' homes, nursing homes, hospitals or in the hospice Cottage. A hospice nurse is on call 24 hours a day for all hospice patients and their families.

In the process of caring for dying patients, nurses are often the ones who deal with patient concerns on all topics ' not just health-related.

Most commonly, hospice patients express fear of how severe their pain will be and if it will be manageable. Other concerns deal with becoming a burden to others, losing control, losing dignity and choice and finding meaning in their lives.

The hospice program provides spiritual counseling, helps work out arrangements for dependents, answers caregivers' questions and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Hospice nurses and team members get brief glimpses at the inner souls of their patients, and the result is often lifelong relationships with family members after the patient dies.

"You can go for years and the family will still recognize you," said Beth Duwenhoegger, who said she often receives Christmas cards from the families of her former patients. "That's rewarding."

Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital serves patients within a 30-mile radius of Luverne and made 706 skilled nursing visits.

Last year, 76 people were admitted to hospice and spent an average of 24 days in the program.

Forty-nine patients utilized the hospice Cottage in Luverne.

In Minnesota, the majority of hospice patients have cancer - more than 60 percent. Others commonly come to hospice with heart and lung problems, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

Although Medicare covers hospice care, reimbursement is often inadequate. The local hospice program is generously supported by the community through donations and volunteer labor.

For example, Sioux Valley Southwestern Electric recently donated $2,000 through its Operation Roundup program to the Cottage to install new carpet.

Also, the annual Hospice Banquet and Charity Auction typically brings in $15,000 to $20,000.

First-grade teacher Lundgren spends part of her day outside of the regular classroom to work one-on-one with struggling readers.

By Sara Quam
Lisa Lundgren has enjoyed the rewards of teaching during her 16 years in the profession.
She now has the award of Luverne Teacher of the Year to go along with all her personal rewards.
"ItÕs really an award that belongs to so many teachers at our school Ñ they all come to school every day and work hard to do the best job they can," she said.
A Harrisburg, S.D., native, Lundgren has taught first grade in Luverne for 13 years. For the past five years, sheÕs taught the class half days and spent the other half in Reading Recovery.
"Reading Recovery is a one-to-one program that helps children make sense of the process of learning to read," Lundgren said.
Reading Recovery is essentially a tutoring model that provides daily 30-minute lessons for beginning readers in first grade. It focuses on early intervention, identifying children before problems begin.
"I love what I do. I like the challenge of working with struggling readers. ItÕs so rewarding to see kids make sense of the process of learning to read," she said. "To see it all come together in a childÕs eyes is truly rewarding."
She started preparing for her career as a student at Augustana College where she graduated with a double major in elementary education and special education in 1984. She went on to get her masterÕs degree in curriculum and instruction in 1993. The Reading Recovery training is ongoing but was first completed in 1998.
Lundgren's specialized training is something thatÕs benefited the entire elementary school, according to Shirley Harrison, past Teacher of the Year winner and award committee member.
"SheÕs a mentor to her fellow teachers," Harrison said. "SheÕs also always looking for new ideas on how to help children really understand."
"She is so good with the reading program and just has a calm presence and gentle manner in the classroom," Harrison said.
Training for Reading Recovery is extensive and high pressure, Harrison said, because teachers have to be evaluated and must demonstrate their teaching from behind a two-way mirror to keep their accreditation.
Even though Lundgren spends part of her day outside of the regular classroom setting for Reading Recovery, she said she enjoys the things first-graders learn.
"ItÕs kind of like life," she said. "You work hard, take time to have fun and try to do whatÕs right. ItÕs not that simple, of course, but itÕs a start."
Nominations for Teacher of the Year are invited from all LEA members, and the new Teacher of the Year is decided by the past five Teachers of the Year.

Friend of education
Along with the Teacher of the Year award, Luverne Schools announced that Lila Bauer is the new Friend of Education.