Jamie (Arp) Ertle, 38, died Aug. 27, 2021, after acourageous four-year battle with stage 4 colon cancer.
She is survivedby her spouse, Andrée Ertle, her daughter, Brièle Ertle, of SanDiego, California, her mother, Betty Arp, and her sister, Jessica Arp (Kristopher Hanson), all of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
She was preceded in death by her father, Ronald Arp.
Services are pending in San Diego, California.
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Ronald Clifford Arp, 64, died Aug. 8, 2021, at Ava’s House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A funeral service was Aug. 13 at Abiding Savior Free Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, with interment at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Ronald Arp was born to Richard and Ruth (Kadinger) Arp on Jan. 1, 1957, in Luverne. He was a New Year’s baby and a twin. Ron graduated from Luverne High School in 1975.
He married Betty Dannenbring on June 7, 1980. They were blessed with two daughters.
Ron had a number of jobs including working for Luverne Trucking, Cummins Great Plains Diesel, and he owned and operated a grocery store in Chandler. After some health struggles Ron retired from Miller Loader in Granite, Iowa.
Ron loved being outside, gardening and going fishing and boating. He enjoyed grilling and cooking meats for his family on his Traeger Smoker.
Ron dealt with many medical issues during his lifetime. He was strong and courageous to the end.
Ron is survived by his wife, Betty, of Sioux Falls; daughter Jamie (passed away Aug. 27, 2021) and Andrée Ertle, granddaughter Brièle Ertle, all of San Diego, California; daughter Jessica Arp (Kristopher Hanson) and Kristopher’s son, Auston Hanson of Sioux Falls; twin brother Randy (Deb) Arp, of Morrison, Colorado; two sisters, Sandy Smith and Becky (Doug) Eeten, all of Luverne; and many nieces and nephews.
Arrangements were provided by Heritage Funeral Home of Sioux Falls,
www.heritagesfsd.com.
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Verna Eldora Schmuck, 90, Luverne, died Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne.
A funeral service was Friday, Aug. 27, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. Burial followed at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne.
Verna Swenson was born on Nov. 16, 1930, to Chester and Ragna (Harldson) Swenson at home on the farm in Rock County. She was baptized on Feb. 26, 1931, at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jasper and confirmed in 1944 at Rosedell Lutheran Church, also in Jasper. She attended Jasper High School for two years and graduated in 1948 from Luverne High School.
On Oct. 6, 1948, Verna married Wallace Schmuck at the parsonage of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. For the first 18 months of their marriage, they lived with Wallace’s parents on the farm. In 1950 they moved to Hardwick. Three years later they moved back to the family farm in Mound Township near Luverne.
When the children were young, Verna helped on the farm, raised their family, and was employed at the Turkey Farm, which later became Blue Mound Catering. In 1983 Verna took the position of head cook at Luverne Senior Dining, where she worked for 17 years.
In 1999 the couple moved into the city of Luverne and in 2000, Verna retired. She remained busy through RSVP and helped out at the public school in addition to serving as a greeter at the hospital.
Verna was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church. She was involved in the Ladies Aid. Verna was a member of two different pinnacle clubs for over 60 years. She enjoyed camping, crafts and baking chocolate chip cookies for the grandchildren.
Verna is survived by three children, Ronald (Diane) of Alexandria, Sandra (Les) Nath of Jasper, and Lonette (Joe) Colwell of Rushmore; 10 grandchildren, Jason Nath, Jessica Schroeder, Andrea Godsave, Ryan Schmuck, Kiley Metz, Kane Colwell, Kelsie Colwell, Kalis Colwell, Brittany Vandeweerd and Matthew Schmuck; four stepgrandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law Jeane (Swenson) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Marilyn Swenson of Luverne, and Shirley Swenson of Luverne.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Wallace; son Todd Schmuck; brothers Dale Swenson, Russell Swenson, Kenneth (Betty) Swenson and Lester Swenson.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.
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Karri D. Korth, age 52, of Luverne, Minnesota, died peacefully surrounded by her family on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage.
Visitation will be Tuesday, Aug. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m. at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. Mass of Christian burial will be Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 10:30 a.m. at the church. Burial will be Thursday, Sept. 2, at 2 p.m. at St. Kilian Cemetery in Wilmont, Minnesota.
Memorials may be directed to the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage or The Banquet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Karri Dawn Korth was born on April 2, 1969, to Gary and Jean (Ossefoort) Staeffler at the Luverne Community Hospital in Luverne, Minnesota. She was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick, Minnesota, and confirmed her faith at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne. She grew up in Luverne except for a short time when her family moved to Barnum, Iowa. In her childhood years, she enjoyed participating in Brownies and Girl Scouts, playing Barbies, softball and riding horse with her uncles.
She graduated from Luverne High School in 1987. She then attended Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota, for her freshman year of college. She transferred to Normandale Community College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she completed her generals and a two-year degree. She returned to southwest Minnesota and attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she graduated with a four-year medical technologist degree in 1992.
Karri continued to live in Luverne and worked at Pipestone County Medical Center, Luverne Community Hospital and Intervet in Worthington, Minnesota. She continued her career as a medical tech at Avera McKennan Hospital until her health forced her into early retirement.
Karri met the love of her life, Bill Korth, on Aug. 13, 1993, at country western dance lessons offered at the VFW in Luverne. According to Karri, “We danced and danced and we danced!” The couple was married at Blue Mound State Park on Aug. 29, 1998. They made their home in Luverne for 23 years.
Karri was very organized and detail-oriented and enjoyed putting those skills to use helping her husband with Korth Auction Services throughout the years. She enjoyed Creative Memory scrapbooking, gardening, canning, reading and completing puzzles. Helping Bill on the farm were special times, especially watching the gate for Bill so the cows wouldn’t get out. Big Black was a thorn in her side!
She loved to spoil her nieces and nephews and they loved their Aunt Karri.
She was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne where she was a member of the RCIA Team.
Karri will always remain in the hearts of her husband, Bill; parents, Gary and Jean Staeffler of Luverne; twin sister, Kammi (Bobby) Biber of Brandon, South Dakota; sister-in-law, Sheryl (Greg) Staeffler of Luverne; nieces and nephews, Samantha (Thomas) Lingen, Christopher Biber (fiancée Cameron Miller), Brianna Biber and Joshua Biber, Zack (Sydney) Staeffler, Katie (Charlie) Dilly and Emilie Staeffler; and other family and numerous friends.
She was preceded in death by her brother, Kelly Staeffler; grandparents, Louis and Ethel Ossefoort and Virgil and Marjorie Staeffler; uncle Larry Staeffler; aunt Sandra Vander Beek; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Desmond and Teresa Korth.
 Arrangements are entrusted to the Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne. To view Karri’s life tribute video or sign an online registry, please visit www.hartquistfuneral.com  
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After cruising through the Region 13C tournament to earn a first-round bye at the state tournament, the Luverne Redbirds’ season ended sooner than the players and fans expected Sunday night.
The Redbirds lost 3-0 to the Eagle Lake Expos in Round 2 of the Class C Minnesota State Amateur Baseball tournament in Chaska.
This was the Redbirds’ 13th overall and third consecutive appearance at the state classic.
The game, originally scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed to Sunday night because of storms Saturday night.
Luverne’s Jake Haugen started the game on the mound for the Redbirds and was the losing pitcher. He pitched five innings, striking out seven and giving up three runs off six hits.
After Haugen threw six consecutive strikes to open the game with two strikeouts, the Redbird defense made its first of five errors in the game, allowing Eagle Lake to get its first base runner.
The base runner was unable to score and the game remained scoreless and hitless during the first two innings.
In the top of the third inning, Luverne had two more fielding errors, allowing Expo runners to get to first and third bases with two out. When Haugen struck out the next batter, Eagle Lake stranded two runners on base and the game remained 0-0.
A fence-reaching double by Derek Lundgren in the bottom of the third inning was the first hit by the Redbirds, but Luverne was unable to score the run.
Eagle Lake scored the game’s first two runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Expos had three hits in the inning and left two on base while Luverne added a fourth fielding error.
The Redbirds were able to get two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth stanza, but were again unable to score a run.
The Expos scored their third and final run of the game after gaining three more hits in the fifth inning.
Brandon Aflson, the Redbirds’ draftee from the Pipestone A’s, replaced Haugen as pitcher at the start of the sixth inning. Alfson struck out the first five batters he faced and eight Expos overall.
In the eighth inning, Luverne got three runners on base after a walk to Newt Johnson, a single by Skyler Wenninger and a walk to Declan Beers, but again the Redbirds were unable to cross home plate.
The Redbirds made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Logan Norman headed to first base after earning a walk. Gaige Nath was then hit by a pitch and Luverne had runners on first and second base with only one out.
Lundgren then hit a single to shortstop, and Kendall Meyer, running for Norman, was tagged out at third base.
With runners at first and second bases and two outs, Phil Paquette earned a walk to load the bases and bring the winning run to bat.
A strikeout to Johnson by Expos pitcher Dalton Grose, a draftee from the Waterville Indians who pitched the complete scoreless game, was the third out of the inning, stranding three runners on base and ending the game and season for the Redbirds.
Luverne ended the game with only three hits, one each for Lundgren, Wenninger and Beers.
While the season didn’t end the way the Redbirds had hoped, team player-manager Brooks Maurer remained positive.
“This year was a lot of fun,” Maurer said. “A 26-6 overall record is nothing to be ashamed of even if our season ended earlier than we would have liked.”
“Jake and Brandon threw really well for us, and it was too bad our defense and hitting couldn’t have been as good,” Maurer said, “but that’s baseball sometimes!”
 
Statistics for each player
(AB, R, H, BI)
 
Lundgren  5. 0. 1. 0
Paquette 4. 0. 0. 0
Johnson 4. 0. 0. 0
Wenninger 4. 0. 1. 0
Beers 1. 0. 1. 0
Serie 4. 0. 0. 0
Zeutenhorst  4. 0. 0. 0
Meyer 3. 0. 0. 0
Norman 0. 0. 0. 0
Nath 2. 0. 0. 0

The Luverne Cardinals boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to Beresford, South Dakota, Friday to win the team championship with their overall team score at their first meet of the season.
Coach Pete Janiszeski said he was pleased with the performance of his Luverne runners.
“I thought overall we had an outstanding day for the first outing of the season,” he said.
“We had a lot of PRs and kids that had outstanding performances for their first meet ever. We are definitely right up there with where we’ve been and, in many instances, better.”
The Luverne girls had five varsity runners in the Top 25, with Jenna DeBates and Tenley Nelson turning in standout performances to place in the top three.
DeBates ran the 5k in 19:29.77 and Nelson ran it in 19:50.30. The only runner besting Luverne was Ellie Maddox from Sioux Falls Christian with a time of 19:08.56.
Grace Ingebretson was 13th with a time of 21:19.39, Kayla Bloemendaal was 16th with a time of 21:43.40, and Tiana Lais placed 22nd with a time of 22:21.70.
The Luverne varsity boys earned an overall fourth place at the meet, with Sioux Falls Christian, Dakota Valley and Vermillion coming in ahead of them in team totals.
Griffen Jarchow had the best 5K time for Luverne, placing 12th with a time of 17:41.04. Owen Janiszeski placed 19th with a time of 18:08.54.
Camden Janiszeski was set to place in the Top 2 to 4 but was pulled due to Achilles tendon pain causing difficulty.
“He has been having pain for the last several weeks,” Coach Janiszeski said. “Unfortunately, it happened on race day this time. I decided to pull him out of the race to not risk further injury, which he was definitely disappointed about.”
Other rankings for boys’ varsity were Sage Viessman in 36th with a time of 19:00.34, Ryan Fick in 57th with a time of 20:25.44, Pierce Cunningham, 63rd with a time of 20:47.90 and Camden Hoven, 75th with a time of 21:39.45
Here’s a look at the rest of the results from the Beresford Cross Country Invite at Bridges Golf Course.
Junior varsity girls 4k run:  Makena Nelson, 8th (18:30.37); Brynn Boyenga, 34th (20:31.76); Andrea Luitjens 70th (25:21.56).
Junior high girls’ 3k run, fifth place overall: Ella Schmuck, 12th (12:48.46); Kianna Woods 13th (12:50.85); Khloe Visker, 38th (13:27.87); Mariah Knorr, 53rd (14:37.17); Maddy Schapel, 99th (18:53.97).
Junior varsity boys’ 4k run, fourth place overall: Leif Ingebretson, 8th (15:44.17); Kaleb Hemme, 23rd (16:24.66); Ethan Rahm, 33rd (16:51.09); Eli McLendon, 44th (17:28.01).
Junior high boys 3k run: Riley Ripka, 105th (15:42.11).

The Cardinals put two wins on their record in the past week to start the 2021 volleyball season.
Luverne won three of five games at home Thursday night, Aug. 26, against Edgerton and pulled off another 3-2 win over New Ulm on Saturday in St. James.
The Cardinals were scheduled to play Redwood in Luverne on Tuesday, Aug. 31, (after Star Herald press time) and will compete in a triangular at home Thursday, Sept. 2.
 
Luverne 3, Edgerton 2
The Cardinals competed evenly the first game of their home opener but lost Game 1 to Edgerton, 31-29.  
Luverne also lost the second game 25-18, putting them in a "must win" situation for the night. 
The Cardinals came out of the huddle a new team for Game 3, securing a comfortable six-point lead by the time Edgerton scored its first point of the game. Luverne never looked back to claim a 25-18 victory in Game 3. 
Edgerton didn't give up easily in Game 4, and the two teams volleyed a tug of war on the scoreboard. 
With the score at 24-22 in Luverne's favor, Elise Ferrell handed the Dutchmen an ace serve for a 25-22 win to force a fifth game.  
Trista Baustian executed a block on Edgerton's opening serve to put Luverne on the scoreboard to open the fifth game. 
Luverne won Game 5 15-13 after Kamryn Van Batavia delivered the final attack to help earn their first season win.  
"The game may not have started like we wanted it to,” Coach Sarah DeBeer said.
“But we found a way to come together, get over the nerves and finish strong. I couldn't ask for anything more."
 
Serves: Anja Jarchow 10/11; Trista Baustian 14/14
Digs:  Elise Ferrell 16; Macy Stratton 16
Set Assists:  Trista Baustian 27; Reghan Bork 15
Blocks:  Christina Wagner 4 solos and 12 assists; Trista Baustian 1 solo and 16 assists
Attacks:  Elise Ferrell 18 kills; Kamryn Van Batavia 7 kills
 
Luverne 3, New Ulm 2
The Luverne Cardinals squared off against the New Ulm Eagles Saturday at the Big South Conference Volleyball Showcase in St. James after winning their season opener against Edgerton. 
Luverne lost the first game 25-18, despite competing evenly until a series of touch nets and doubles put them behind. 
The Cardinals came back in Game 2 with a kill by Elise Ferrell and a tap over the net by Reghan Bork to earn Luverne's first two points.
New Ulm pushed back, but the game shifted in Luverne's favor after an ace serve by Trista Baustian, a subsequent kill by Kamryn Van Batavia, a block by Van Batavia and Christina Wagner and another block by Wagner and Morgan Ahrendt. 
The Eagles gained some ground but were stopped short when Macy Stratton delivered a back row attack and then on the next volley dove to help keep the ball in Luverne's control. 
The Cardinals sealed the win 25-15 in Game 2 with a series of solid plays by Wagner’s solo block, Ferrell’s ace serve, Baustian’s kill and a block by Wagner and Baustian.
Game 3 started off with alternating points on the scoreboard, but Luverne's momentum took off when Ahrendt delivered a kill and Stratton served up an ace. 
The momentum continued with a couple of kills by Ferrell, and the final kill by Wagner put them at 25 for the win.
New Ulm went on the attack in Game 4 with a momentum Luverne couldn't stop and beat the Cardinals 25-12, forcing a fifth contest. 
Luverne came back in Game 5 to win 15-8 for the match victory by delivering eight kills from players Ferrell, Anja Jarchow, Stratton, Baustian, Christina Wagner and Elizabeth Wagner.
 
Serves: Reghan Bork 23 of 24 with 1 ace; Trista Baustian 19 of 19 with 1 ace
Digs: Carly Olson 18; Elise Ferrell 12
Set Assists: Trista Baustian 16; Reghan Bork 18
Blocks: Christina Wagner 4 solos and 12 assists; Elise Ferrell 2 solos and 6 assists
Attacks: Elise Ferrell 11 kills; Christina Wagner 7 kills

It is mid-August and the past several free days and evenings have been spent doing public lands habitat improvements. These improvements have been in the way of spraying a leaf application brush killer on volunteer trees that for all practical purposes pollute grassland ecosystems. One tree here or one shrub there provides no wildlife value. In fact, they actually reduce the habitat quality and reduce the parcel’s wildlife-carrying capacity.
Carry capacity is the numbers of game, fish and wildlife species that inhabit any particular parcel. It took me many years to prove my public land’s worth to get this permission to do free work for the Minnesota DNR. The department cannot just allow anyone to step in independently to help, no matter how good their intentions are. This has to be done right and at the right time.
I don’t know exactly when my passion for public lands began, but these acres, no matter what state they happen to be located in, now dominate my passion, heart, soul and most of every minute of free time I have.
When I was a young man in my 20s, all I did was fish. I fished almost every day and the reason I fished and not hunted is that I did not need anyone’s permission to do so. I could fish on any one of hundreds of the state’s public waters. My 16-foot Alumacraft boat with a 30-year 9.9 horsepower Evinrude was just as successful at casting docks and catching fish as anyone else’s $50,000 Ranger. Fishing was a poor man’s sport and I was a poor man.
Hunting, on the other hand, meant you needed permission. This also meant the guy with the most money always won. Hunting spots for pheasants were non-existent. Literally non-existent. I became aware of Pheasants Forever because they had bought a parcel of land and opened it to public hunting. I joined the committee of the local chapter back in 1986.
There are now 43 parcels of land purchased by the local PF chapter to hunt on in my county. I can’t count the number of times people have come up to me and said that if it weren’t for Pheasants Forever, I would not have anywhere to hunt.
Public lands – I call them citizen-owned lands – only account for two percent of the land base in Nobles County and are the only place for the common guy or gal to hunt. When it comes to publicly accessible hunting lands, the majority of the non-hunting public is unaware public lands  even exist. Those that use them appreciate them and other people hate them because they could be another row of corn or beans.
When I stand in the tall grass on public land and listen to the birds and other creatures, all the way down to the cricket I feel immersed, like I am the only human on the planet. That sense of being part of nature instead of trying to control it is like no other. Wildlife habitat is rare and valuable. There is as much going on underground as there is above ground. Native plant roots that reach a depth of 19 feet survive droughts that no man-created seed ever could.
For all the creatures that live in grassland eco-systems, the average person is only aware of about 5 percent of them. Organisms that rely on plant diversity and great soil health live nowhere else. Many native prairie plant species cannot survive in the soils we now cultivate. Only after the ground has been left untilled for 15 years can the soil health regain the bacteria and enzymes necessary to allow germination to happen.
Wildlife habitat is not easy. You can’t plant it and walk away. If you want deep quality wildlife habitat, you have to want it bad. This means time, effort and tons of energy expended from planting until you die and someone else takes over. There is no effort that I aspire to greater than my love of great habitat on public land. Fishing is now a once in a year deal with my son for a special trip. I see habitat destruction everywhere I go. Humans are pretty good at that.
Every time I see a grassland song bird called a bobolink, I silently ask myself, if not for conservation efforts where would he live? The answer is they would not exist at all. Given a place to be, wildlife can enrich our lives and light fires in our souls.
My burning desire to create more public habitat and manage the habitat that currently exists is an almost singular mission. I receive a sense of oneness I can only experience while sitting on a hill watching the sun go down, petting my dogs and knowing I did all that I could to preserve God’s creatures. You should try it; it might very well change the direction of your life.

Firearm and muzzleloader hunters who want to harvest antlerless deer in a deer permit area designated as antlerless permit lottery this hunting season are reminded they must purchase their license by Thursday, Sept. 9.
Hunters who purchase their license before this date are automatically entered into the lottery for the deer permit area or special hunt area they declare.
No application is needed to take antlerless deer in permit areas with either sex, two-deer limit, three-deer limit or five-deer limit designations.
Hunters who want to participate in special firearm or muzzleloader deer hunts also need to apply for permits that are issued through a lottery, and that application deadline is also Sept. 9.
More information about designations and regulations for deer permit areas, as well as details about special hunt opportunities, are available at dnr.state.mn.us/hunting
They can also be found in the 2021 Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook.