Hermina Van Meeteren, 92, Luverne, died peacefully with her family by her side on Thursday, July 28, 2022, at the Sanford Luverne Hospital.
A funeral service was Tuesday, Aug. 2, at 10:30 a.m. at the Christian Reformed Church in Luverne. Burial followed at Memory Gardens Cemetery near Luverne.
Memorials may be directed to Luke Society or Hope Haven.
Hermina Van Meeteren was born on Jan. 14, 1930, to Ralph and Henrietta (Driesen) Otten in a house near Doon, Iowa. She grew up in the Doon and Rock Rapids, Iowa, area and attended the Doon Christian School through the eighth grade. Hermina helped on the farm and with child care and household chores for new mothers in the area.
On Feb. 7, 1951, Hermina married John Van Meeteren in Doon, Iowa. John was drafted into the United States Army on Aug. 19, 1952, serving overseas during the Korean War and was honorably discharged on May 13, 1954. During this time, Hermina continued to help new mothers.
After John returned home, the couple resided near the Rock Rapids area working for various farmers. In 1955 John and Hermina moved to a dairy farm near Luverne. Here they settled into life and made their home. They farmed and operated the dairy while raising their seven children.
They formally retired in 1993 and in September of 2000, the couple moved in Luverne. John passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 13, 2000. Hermina continued living in their home until 2019, when she moved to the Oasis Care Home in Luverne.
Hermina was a member of the Luverne Christian Reformed Church where she attended Bible studies. She volunteered at Atlas and Bibles for Missions. She enjoyed working on crafts and puzzles. She loved driving out to see the farm and spending time with her family.
Hermina is survived by seven children, Darrell (Leah) Van Meeteren of Luverne, Carol Kelderman of Doon, Gloria (Vern) Brouwer of Jasper, Brenda Kuechenmeister (special friend Steve Langenfeld) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Deb (Keith) Kuechenmeister of Slayton, Marlin (Viola) Van Meeteren of Luverne, and Sharla (Jody) Reisch of Luverne; 30 grandchildren; 66 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; brother Gerald Otten of Montclair, California; sister LaVonne Otten of Luverne; and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John; son-in-law Arnold Kelderman; great-grandson Tripp Postmus; and sister-in-law Helen Otten.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com
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Sidney Jiskoot passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at the Careage Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cherokee, Iowa. Memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, August 6, 2022, at American Reformed Church, Primghar, Iowa.
Sidney Glenn Jiskoot was born May 13, 1934, at Alton, Iowa, the second of five sons of William and Anne (Van Iperin) Jiskoot. He attended country school through the eighth grade, and high school in Alton, graduating in 1952. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957 and was honorably discharged.
Sid was united in marriage to Lorraine (Baker) Jiskoot of Luverne, Minnesota, on July 18, 1957. They began farming land north of Sheldon, Iowa. After nine years they bought a farm near Sanborn, Iowa, and raised three girls.
He enjoyed working in his machine shop, even building a skid steer from scratch. Sid was the owner of several patents, including an opening gate on Demco wagons, disc guards, and a rotary silo grain leveler. Neighbors and salesmen would often find him greasing some part, or tinkering on a new idea.
Woodworking was another hobby. He built the dresser set they used all 65 years they were married. Other projects decorated the home, or became treasures of one of his daughters or grandchildren.
Sid served as deacon and elder in the Reformed Church. He taught Catechism and Sunday School for many years. He and his wife were youth sponsors. He served as president of the board for Sanborn Cooperative Grain Company; was a board member of the Sheldon Cooperative Oil Company, and president and board member of O’Brien County Cattlemen’s Association. He also served two terms on the Agri-Industries Board.
Sid and Lorraine traveled the country by motorcycle and rode with a cycle club from Sheldon, Iowa. The couple wintered in Arizona for many years.
Sid is survived by his beloved wife, daughters Carol (Bruce) Rohwer of Paullina, Eunice (Lowell) Wilson of Primghar, and Sarah (Jack) Woelber of Sioux Center; six grandchildren and spouses, and a growing number of great-grandchildren; brothers, Wilmer of George, Iowa, Rev. Donald of New York City, Allen and Dolly of Pella, several nieces and nephews; Lorraine’s sister, Nelva Baker of Orange City, her sister-in-law Marge Baker of Luverne, Minnesota, and sister-in-law Morla Baker of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lorraine’s parents (Joe and Edna Baker), brother, Dr. Rodney Jiskoot, sister-in-law, Rose Jiskoot, brother-in-law, Rev. Donald Baker, and brother-in-law, Wayne Baker.
Memorials may be directed to Justice For All of Rock Valley, Iowa.
Arrangements were provided by George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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Leola Elizabeth Sweeney, 87, Luverne, died peacefully on Saturday, July 30, 2022, at the Sanford Hospice Cottage in Luverne surrounded by her family.
A funeral service was Wednesday, Aug. 3, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne with burial following at St. Catherine Catholic Cemetery.
Leola Fuerstenberg was born to Leo and Perryetta (Lynch) Fuerstenberg in St. Kilian, Minnesota, on May 30, 1935. She was baptized, received her First Holy Communion, and was confirmed, all at St. Kilian Catholic Church. Leola attended St. Kilian Elementary School and high school at Good Counsel Academy in Mankato, where she graduated in May 1953.
Leola started working at Tri-State Insurance Company (now Continental Western) in Luverne in November 1953. She was employed as a mill and elevator underwriter and then later as a reinsurance underwriter.
On Aug. 12, 1967, Leola married Michael Sweeney at St. Kilian Catholic Church. Leola retired from Continental Western on Jan. 2, 2000.
Leola was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. She attended Bible Study groups and participated in the Perpetual Adoration prayer schedule. She was involved with LCCW of St. Catherine, Bone Builders, Blue Mound Quilters, and Mah Jongg. She did many crafts such as crocheting, knitting, tatting, cross stitch, sewing, and quilting.
Leola is survived by her husband, Michael, of Luverne; children Shawn Sweeney (fiancée Heather Andersen) of Luverne, and Colin Sweeney of Rockville, Maryland; three grandchildren, Caitria (Seth) Bjorkman of Luverne, Seanan Sweeney of Marshall, and Grace Sweeney of Minneapolis; two great-grandchildren, Alexander Bjorkman and Finnegan Bjorkman, both of Luverne; and three sisters, Shirley (Verilyn) Legler of Adrian, Jane (Glenn) Larsen of Fountain Hills, Arizona, and Carol (Jim) Volk of Madison Lake.
She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Marian Franklin; two infant brothers; and one infant half-sister.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne,  hartquistfuneral.com
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Elaine M. Kellen, 98, Worthington, died Friday, July 29, 2022, at the Sunset Hospice Cottage in Worthington.
A funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, at St. Adrian Catholic Church, in Adrian with burial at St. Adrian Cemetery.
Arrangements were provided by Dingmann Funeral Home of Adrian, dingmannandsons.com.
(0804 DN)

Six Rock County 4-H’ers attend camp
Six Rock County 4-H’ers participated in “Minnesota Adventure,” a three-day camp at Lake Shetek north of Slayton.
Campers included Colton Buchholz, Caylix Buchholz and Joshua Luitjens. Camp counselors included Mazzi Moore, Andrea Luitjens and Zach Uhl.
More than 150 campers across southwest Minnesota spent three days and two nights in June at the camp led by 20 high school youth counselors.
4-H Camp is an opportunity for many youth to practice independence, meet new people, try new things … all in an outdoor environment.

Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian was honored with the President’s Award from the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) on July 28 during the Coalition’s three-day summer conference in Red Wing.
The award marks the culmination of Baustian’s tenure as president of the CGMC.
During his year-long term as president, Baustian led events such as the CGMC’s “Lobby Day” at the State Capitol and served as the organization’s primary spokesperson through numerous guest columns and interviews with state and local media.
He has also been active in efforts to recruit and maintain relationships with CGMC members and increase the strength of the organization.
CGMC Executive Director Bradley Peterson said Baustian has been a vocal advocate for legislative priorities such as Local Government Aid, clean water infrastructure, economic development, funding for city streets and highway projects in Greater Minnesota and exploring solutions to the workforce housing and child care shortages.
“Mayor Baustian has all the qualities you want in a president,” said CGMC Executive Director Bradley Peterson.
“This year brought on a lot of challenges, but he tackled each problem head-on. There were days when he was inundated with phone calls, letters and emails, but he handled each one with thoughtful consideration. Mayor Baustian’s steady leadership helped guide Greater Minnesota cities through a tumultuous legislative session and prepared us for the critical challenges still ahead.”
CGMC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization representing more than 100 cities outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
The Coalition educates legislators about issues important to Greater Minnesota.

Luverne City Administrator John Call received the Bob Filson Award for Distinguished Rural Leadership on July 28 at the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities’ three-day summer conference in Red Wing.
The award is given upon retirement to CGMC city staff members who have been actively engaged in rural policy matters throughout their careers and made significant contributions to the CGMC.
The award is named for former Worthington City Administrator Bob Filson who showed “consistent and relentless dedication” to issues that mattered to the CGMC and its members.
Call is retiring from his position with the City of Luverne after serving as city administrator for 17 years. Throughout this time he has been a strong supporter of the CGMC and a frequent attendee at the organization’s conferences, lobby days at the Capitol, and other events.
With his breadth of knowledge and experience, he has been a reliable contributor on a range of issues including Local Government Aid (LGA), economic development, and infrastructure needs, according to CGMC president Pat Baustian, Luverne.
“John has been a fervent advocate for the CGMC,” said Baustian. “He understands the importance of uniting rural communities through an organization like the CGMC. We are grateful for his years of service to Luverne and Greater Minnesota.”

New class ideas or requests for specific Luverne Community Education classes can be directed to Lisa Nath at li.nath@isd2184.net or 507- 283-4724.
Instructors with details for classes they’d like to teach or updates for classes they’re teaching should e-mail Dana Hoogedoorn, da.hoogendoorn@isd2184.net.
Current and previous Community Ed brochures are on the school website www.isd2184.net.
The new brochure will be available in the Luverne Announcer Sept. 3 and online on Sept. 6.
Community Education thrives through the sharing of talents, interests, and information from all members of the community.
Thanks to those who have taught a class through Community Education in the past. Sharing ideas for new classes or names of potential instructors is much appreciated also.

In the national news we continue to hear about the drought and extreme heat in the southern plains and western states, while the focus has been excess rain and flooding in places like Kentucky and the St. Louis area.
Even in the Upper Midwest there is a wide range of soil moisture and crop conditions across the region, with some areas getting very dry and approaching drought conditions, while other locations actually have received excessive rainfall.
Portions of the Upper Midwest received some much-needed rainfall this past weekend, ranging from a few hundredths of an inch to near two inches in some locations. Most areas received fairly small amounts of precipitation; however, the rainfall provided some much-needed temporary relief to crop deterioration in very dry areas.
The southern half of Minnesota provides a great example of the variability in rainfall during June and July. The U of M research site at Waseca in eastern south-central Minnesota received 4.36 inches of rainfall in June and 4.6 inches in July, for a two-month total of nearly 9 inches, which is less than an inch below average for that site.
By contrast, the U of M research site at Lamberton in southwest Minnesota received only 1.07 inches of rainfall in June and 1.59 inches in July, for a two-month total of only 2.62 inches, which is well below the long-term average of 7.73 inches for the two-month period.
There is a growing area of Minnesota extending from the south edge of the Twin Cities into south central Minnesota categorized as “moderate drought” or “severe drought” in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor on July 26.
A large portion of the southern half of the state (except for counties near the Iowa border) were listed as “abnormally dry” in the latest Drought Monitor.
According to the latest Drought Monitor” map, the areas categorized by some level of “drought” in the Drought Monitor have been expanding further into the portions of the Midwest in recent weeks.
Much of Nebraska, as well as portions of southern South Dakota and northwest Iowa are now categorized to be in either the moderate drought (D1) or severe drought (D2) category, with a small portion of northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa categorized in the extreme drought (D3) category.
Nearly the entire western third of the United States is in either severe, extreme or exceptional drought, with a majority of the region in the two top-level drought categories.
The Drought Monitor measures the overall long-term impacts of extended drought conditions, as compared to representing current crop conditions. This is why some areas that are listed in “moderate” or “severe” drought may still have fairly good crop potential with below average rainfall, provided that these areas have received some timely rainfall.
The weekly USDA Crop Report released on July 25 listed corn in the U.S. at 61 percent “good-to-excellent,” down from 64 percent a week earlier. However, there is a wide variation in the “good-to-excellent” crop ratings across the major corn and soybean-producing states.
The highest “good-to-excellent” corn rating was 80 percent in Iowa, which is the largest corn producing state in the U.S.  Minnesota was at 63 percent, slightly above the national average.  
The latest USDA Crop Report listed 59 percent of the U.S. soybean crop as “good to excellent,” which also declined by 2 percentage points from a week earlier. Wisconsin had the highest “good-to-excellent” soybean rating in the Midwest at 79 percent, followed closely by Iowa at 75 percent. Minnesota and North Dakota are at 62 percent, and South Dakota at 64 percent.
There is not a lot of historical correlation between weekly crop ratings in early August and final corn and soybean yields.
Timely August rainfalls and favorable growing conditions can enhance final yield levels in areas that are not in extreme drought conditions; however, lack of late season rain events can reduce final crop yields in the very dry areas.