Mary McPherson, 90, Luverne, died Wednesday, March 5 at Mary Jane Brown Home, Luverne. Visitation will be Friday, March 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne. Services will be Saturday, March 8 at 10:30 a.m. at United Methodist Church, Luverne, with Rev. Bart Fletcher officiating. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery.

Diane Maxine Voss, 56, Carnegie, Penn., formerly of Luverne, died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003.

A memorial service was Thursday, March 6, at St. Adrian Catholic Church in Adrian. The Rev. Gerald Kosse officiated. Burial of the cremains was at St. Adrian Cemetery.

Diane Kruger was born to Elmer (Knute) and Maxine Kruger on Jan. 8, 1947. She married David Kunkel on Oct. 10, 1969,

She moved to Carnegie in October 1998. She married Lloyd Voss on Oct. 23, 1999.

Survivors include her husband, Lloyd Voss, Carnegie; one son, Bobby (Shelly) Kunkel, Luverne; one daughter, Jodi Christy, Luverne; one stepson, T.J. (Deb) Voss, Pittsburgh, Penn.; two stepdaughters, Suzy Voss, Pittsburgh, and Kristin Voss, Clarion, Penn; three grandchildren, Conner and Colten Kunkel, Luverne, and Danetrea Tesch, Yankton, S.D.; one stepgranddaughter, Rebecca Voss, Pittsburgh; three brothers, Dennis (Rita) Kruger, Donald (Deb) Kruger, all of Luverne, and Sam (Deb) Kruger, Beaver Creek; two sisters, Joanne "Puddy" (Jack) Maras, and Shari (Robin) Stratton, all of Luverne; father-in-law, Hub Voss, Ellsworth; and grandparents.

Mrs. Voss was preceded in death by her mother, Maxine Kruger, Dean Kruger and nephew, Travis Kruger.
Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Lester Bernard Swenson, 70, Jasper, formerly of rural Rock County, died Sunday, March 2, 2003, at Pipestone County Medical Center in Pipestone.

Services were Thursday, March 6, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. Burial was in Rose Dell Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, rural Jasper.

Lester Swenson was born to Chester C. and Ragna L. (Haroldson) Swenson on March 30, 1932, in rural Rock County. He was baptized on June 4, 1932, in Luverne. He was raised on the family farm and attended school in Rock County. Following his education, he worked on the family farm until 1951 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served during the Korean War and in 1955 was granted an honorable discharge. Following his discharge, he returned home to Rock County.

He married Shirley Buss on Nov. 10, 1956, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. Following their marriage, they lived in Rock County until 1969 when they moved to Jasper. He retired at age 62.

Mr. Swenson was a former member of Rose Dell Trinity Lutheran Church of Jasper. He currently was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. He served as chairman of the Split Rock State Park Advisory Board for many years. He also was a member of Arthur Moeller American Legion Post 478 in Hardwick. His hobbies consisted of reading and watching his grandchildren.

Survivors include his wife, Shirley Swenson, Jasper; five children, Greg Swenson, Jasper, and his special friend Karen Hemminger, Mark Swenson, Lakeville, and his fiancé Diane Holter, Scott Swenson, Edgerton, Brenda Law, Kansas City, Mo., and her special friend, Deon Durr, and Kimberly Pierret and her husband, Wayne, Sherman, S.D.; 10 grandchildren, Kayla Swenson, Shabrielle Law, Freia Fenelon, Liz Holter, Josianne Holter, Taylor Swenson, Colby Pierret, Evia Ona Durr, Haylee Swenson and Hayden Pierret; two brothers, Russell (Jeane) Swenson and Dale (Marilyn) Swenson, all of Luverne, and one sister, Verna (Wallace) Schmuck, Luverne.

Mr. Swenson was preceded in death by his parents, and one brother and sister-in-law, Kenneth Swenson and his wife, Betty.

Foster-Hartquist Funeral Chapel in Jasper was in charge of arrangements.

Darlene "Kelly" Hemme, 91, Pipestone, formerly of Luverne, died Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003, at Good Samaritan Village in Pipestone.

Services were Saturday, March 1, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jasper. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Darlene Schuetts was born to Pearl and Bessie (Greenhagen) Schuetts on April 12, 1911, in Kewanee, Ill. When she was a young girl, she moved with her parents to Luverne where she was raised and received her education. After her graduation from Luverne High School in 1929, she attended Mankato State College in Mankato.

She married Eldo Hemme on Aug. 25, 1934, in Canton, S.D. Following their marriage, they farmed near Hardwick and then Jasper. After their retirement from farming, they moved to Pipestone. They moved to New Ulm a few years later. Mr. Hemme died on Aug. 31, 1968. After his death, she returned to Pipestone and later Jasper. In 1988, she moved to Palisades Manor Nursing Home in Garretson, S.D. In 1996, she became a resident of Good Samaritan Village in Pipestone.

Mrs. Hemme was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Jasper. She enjoyed sewing and made many clothes for her grandchildren. She also enjoyed doing crafts.

Survivors include four sons, Roger (Shirley) Hemme, Lancaster, Calif., James Hemme, Florence, Colo., Wilburt Hemme, Aurora, Colo., and Leon (Gail) Hemme, Fort Collins, Colo.; one daughter, Jerene (Robert) Milliken, Glenview, Ill.; nine grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Hemme was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and one brother, Kenneth Schuetts.

Hartquist Funeral Chapel, Pipestone, was in charge of arrangements.

Sonia "Sunny" Rae Haggard, 69, White Bear Lake, formerly of Luverne, died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003, at The Pillars in Oakdale.

Services for Sonia Haggard were Thursday, Feb. 27, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Luverne. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Sonia Turner was born to Daniel V. and Annabelle "Bonnie" (Martin) Turner on Aug. 6, 1933, in Luverne. When she was 6 years old she moved with her family to California. She lived in California until her freshman year in high school when she returned to Luverne to live with her mother and stepfather, M.C. (Shorty) Hilger. She graduated from Luverne High School in 1951. She worked as a secretary for Wendt Poultry Company in Luverne. She then moved to Minneapolis and worked as a secretary at Twin City Federal Savings and Loan.

She married Dale L. Haggard on Sept. 10, 1955. In 1959, they moved back to Luverne where her husband practiced veterinary medicine. The family moved to Omaha, Neb., in January 1970 and then to East Lansing, Mich. in 1972. She sold real estate at an all-female brokerage firm during the early 70s.
They moved to White Bear Lake in 1978. She worked as a secretary at Lakewood College until she retired.

Survivors include her husband, Dale Haggard; two daughters, Jane (Robert) Andre and Martha (Mark) Anderson; one granddaughter, Ella Rae Anderson; her mother, Bonnie Hilger, one sister, Joyce (Bill) Sexton; mother-in-law, Jessie Haggard, two sisters-in-law, Winifred Haggard and Helen (Dwayne) Rollag; and many nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Haggard was preceded in death by her father, stepfather, and infant son, John Hewitt Haggard, on Aug. 26, 1965, from acute lymphatic leukemia.

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

Chester Anderson, 79, Luverne, died Sunday, Feb. 16 at Minnesota Veterans Home, Luverne. Visitation will be Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 2 to 7 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Engebretson Funeral Home. Services will be Thursday at 3 p.m. at Engebretson Funeral Home with Rev. Dell Sanderson officiating. Burial with military honors will be in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Norman Aanenson, 81, Luverne, died Friday, March 7 at Luverne Community Hospital. Visitation will be Monday, March 10 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Luverne. Services will be Tuesday, March 11 at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutehran Chruch, with Rev. Maurice Hagen & Rev. Dell Sanderson officiating. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery. Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, is in charge of arrangements.

Obed Bakken, 90, Hills, died Friday, March 7 at the Luverne Hospice Cottage. Memorial services will be Monday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at Palisade Lutheran Church, rural Rock County. Private family burial will be held Monday morning at Palisade Cemetery. Minnehaha Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
Luverne was ousted from the Section 3AA Boys’ Basketball Tournament when it lost a 72-33 game to Worthington during a quarterfinal-round game played in Jackson Saturday.

The second-seeded Trojans limited the Cardinals to one field goal in the first half while opening a 39-5 halftime advantage.

Things didn’t get any better for the seventh-seeded Cardinals in the second half as they were outscored 33-28 in what ended as a 39-point loss.

The win sends Worthington to tonight’s semifinals at Southwest State University in Marshall, where it plays Redwood Valley, a 67-48 winner over Windom Saturday in Jackson. Luverne ends its 4-18 season.

Luverne simply couldn’t get anything going during Saturday’s loss to Worthington.

The Cards led 2-0 when Jake Studer drained a pair of free throws in the first minute of the game, but Worthington ended the first quarter with a 15-0 run before scoring the first 21 points of the second period to open a 36-2 lead.

Luverne’s scoring drought ended when Scott Boelman hit a free throw with 51 seconds left in the second quarter. Studer then registered Luverne’s first field goal of the game with one second left in the period, making it a 39-5 game at the intermission.

Worthington scored the first seven points of the third quarter to extend the difference to 41 points (46-5) before settling for a 38-point (60-22) advantage at period’s end. A 12-11 scoring edge for WHS in the fourth quarter made it a 39-point difference in the end.

Studer, Brent DeGroot and Jared Pick scored four points each to lead LHS. Aaron Schmidt plucked six rebounds off the glass.

Box score
Studer 1 0 2-2 4, Jo.Pick 0 0 1-2 1, Tofteland 0 1 0-0 3, Jr.Pick 2 0 0-0 4, Deragisch 1 0 0-2 2, Goembel 1 0 0-0 2, Schmidt 1 0 0-0 2, Stegemann 0 1 0-0 3, Hulstein 1 0 0-0 2, Boelman 0 0 1-2 1, DeWispelaere 0 0 0-0 0, DeGroot 1 0 2-2 4, Herman 1 0 0-0 2, Heronimus 0 1 0-0 3, Lange 0 0 0-0 0.

Team statistics
Luverne: 12 of 39 field goals (31 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 20 rebounds, 21 turnovers.
Worthington: 26 of 58 field goals (45 percent), 13 of 19 free throws (68 percent), 30 rebounds, 10 turnovers.