Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home

Mass of Christian Burial for Kevin Lease, Sr., age 69, of Milaca, was held Friday, January 10, 2025 at St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Foreston. Interment followed at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Onamia. Kevin Lease was born June 11, 1955 to Henry and Tillie Ortman Lease in Little Falls, MN. He was united in marriage to Robin Guimont on May 6, 1978 at Saint Edward's Catholic Church in Princeton. He worked for a local logging company and was also a full-time dairy farmer. He was a man of faith. Kevin enjoyed deer hunting, dairy farming, fishing, logging, playing cards, vigorous conversation, spending time with his family and many friends. He passed away January 5, 2025 at his...

Mass of Christian Burial for Kevin Lease, Sr., age 69, of Milaca, will be held Friday, January 10, 2025 at 11 AM at St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Foreston. Interment will follow at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Onamia. Visitation will be held from 4 - 7 PM Thursday at the St. Louis Parish Hall and continue one hour prior to the service on Friday. Kevin Lease was born June 11, 1955 to Henry and Tillie Ortman Lease in Little Falls, MN. He was united in marriage to Robin Guimont on May 6, 1978 at Saint Edward's Catholic Church in Princeton. He worked for a local logging company and was also a full-time dairy farmer. He was a man of faith. Kevin enjoyed deer hunting, dairy farming,...

David L. Loberg, age 84, of Bock, passed away Saturday, December 28, 2024. Funeral services were held Thursday, January 2, 2025 at Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home in Milaca. Interment with full military honors followed at Borgholm Cemetery near Bock. Dave was born January 21, 1940 in St. Louis Park MN to Violet Olson and Albert Loberg. Upon graduation from high school, Dave enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In 1961, Dave married Genevieve Pinske and their son, James A. Loberg, was born. In 1978, Dave married Valerie (Kroll) Reilly. Upon retirement, after many years of driving truck, he and Val moved to Bock, MN from Minnetonka. MN. He was preceded in death by his parents Violet and Albert,...

Travis Lee Calander, age 41, passed away peacefully surrounded by the love of his family. Travis was born October 4, 1983 to Steven and Carin Calander. He grew up in Onamia, MN and graduated from Onamia High School, it was there that he met and fell in love with his wife Sally (West) Calander. They have spent many wonderful years together, marrying on September 6, 2008. One of the proudest moments of Travis's life was becoming a father to Corbin (15) and Haylee (13). As a family they loved spending time fishing at the family cabin. Travis enjoyed being outdoors, fishing, hunting and ATVing. He especially liked fishing quietly in a bay, then surprising us with a whopper. Travis's smile was...

Beverly Ann Skogman, 86, of Milaca, died in St. Cloud Minnesota on December 22, 2024. She was born August 23, 1938 to Miland LeeRoy Bailey and Eleanor Mary Bailey in Mille Lacs County, South Harbor Township at the home of her grandparents, William and Rose Brandt. Beverly was married on July 18, 1954 to Donald Lawrence Skogman. They were married for 63 years, 5 months, and 15 days. Bev grew up in the Cove and Milaca area. She worked in Minneapolis as an Assembler at EMR, which became Univac, which became Unisys. She retired from Unisys in 1993 after 25 years. She also volunteered at the Food Co-op in Isle. She was preceded in death by her husband Donald Lawrence Skogman, her parents...

Services for Cecil "John" Noggle, age 75, of Milaca, were held Sunday, December 15, 2024 at Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home in Milaca. Interment with full military honors took place Monday, December 16, 2024 at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery at Little Falls. Cecil John Noggle was born September 7, 1949 in St. Cloud, MN to Cecil and Laura Noggle. He grew up in St. Cloud, moving to Clearwater as a teen, where he learned to love the farm life. He graduated from Annandale High School in 1968. After graduation, John enlisted in the US Navy and was honorably discharged in 1971. He married Sheila Patterson on August 25, 1979 and together they raised three daughters. John enjoyed...

Roger N. Greene, age 88, passed away Sunday, December 8, 2024 at Rusheba in Rush City. Funeral services were held Saturday, December 14, 2024 at the Christian Reformed Church in Pease. Burial followed at Borgholm Cemetery near Bock. He was born March 28, 1936 in Warroad, MN to William and Cora Greene. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy and served as a Radioman Third Class, until his honorable discharge on September 21, 1961. After the service, he went to work for Hormel Foods and later McGough Construction. Roger enjoyed hunting with his dog, Toby, fishing at Lake of the Woods and later in life he loved to golf. He married Gladys Timmer in July 1970 and they lived in...

Betty J. Swanson, age 89, of Milaca, passed away Thursday, December 5, 2024 with family close by. She was born February 15, 1935 at home in Page Township to Lester and Sarah (Hunt) Brown. Betty grew up in Milaca and married LeVern Swanson. She loved her family and loved to share her crafts with others. She is survived by her daughters, Barb (Pete) Sornesnon and Patty (Joel) Abel, also by many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her husband, LeVern; parents, Lester and Sarah; baby brother, John and sister, Mary (Glenn) Brown. In keeping with Betty's wishes, no services will be...

George Bradley Kaspar, age 87, died December 1, 2024 at Milaca Elim Meadows from natural causes. George was born November 7, 1937 on the family farm in the Stony Brook area to Ed and Sylvia Kaspar. He was the fifth of six children. He graduated from Milaca High School in 1956. After high school, he joined the US Navy. He met and married Edna Fetters on July 3, 1971. Shortly after, they moved to San Diego, where they had three children: George, Sylvia, and Katherine. Later they moved to Great Lakes, IL where they had Laura. In 1987, George retired from the US Navy after 27 years. They moved back to Milaca to raise their children and run a hobby farm. George loved road trips,...

Mass of Christian Burial celebrating the life of Mary Caroline Nikolas, age 93, was held Friday, November 29, 2024 at Saint Louis Bertrand Catholic Church in Foreston. Interment followed at Saint Louis parish cemetery. Mary Caroline Nikolas passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Monday, November 25, 2024 at Saint Otto's in Little Falls. Mary was born August 5, 1931 in Benton County to Henry and Hildegarde (Reiser) Roehl. Mary attended country school through the 8th grade and proudly earned her GED in 1981. She married James Nikolas on August 8, 1950. They were married for 58 years. Together they farmed for 35 years, near Foreston, while raising eight children. She loved...

Doris Anfinson, age 87, of Milaca, passed away Friday, November 8, 2024 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd, MN. Funeral services will be held Friday, November 15, 2024 at 11 AM at Zion Lutheran Church, 5972 70th Avenue, Princeton, MN. Burial will follow at the church cemetery. Visitation will take place from 4 - 7 PM Thursday at Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home in Milaca with a MOCA/VFW service at 5 PM and a prayer service at 6:30 PM. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Doris Arlene (Klaustermeier) Anfinson was born on June 2, 1937, on a farm near Lester Prairie, MN. She was the daughter of Elmer and Malinda (Ide) Klaustermeier. She was...

Loren Peter Sahlstrom was born on October 4, 1945, in Milaca, Minnesota to Rodney and Lona (Jones) Sahlstrom. He died on October 21, 2024. He will be greatly missed. He grew up on Sahlstrom Road with his eight cousins, being the next to youngest in age. He and his cousin, Mary, were exceptionally close and remained the best of friends throughout their lives. In 1963, he graduated from Milaca High School and went on to attend St. Cloud State University. Peter enlisted in the Army in 1970 and served his country during the Vietnam Conflict until he was honorably discharged in 1973. He returned home to Milaca and began working at Mosford Implement in Foley though soon found his true calling...

Bryan Lee Nelson, age 50, of Milaca, passed away October 14, 2024 at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina. Funeral services were held Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at Zion Lutheran Church with Pastor Kate Mensing officiating. Burial followed at Wendell Hill Cemetery in Milaca, MN. Bryan Nelson was born November 10, 1973 in Edina, MN to Dennis and Linda (Wilson) Nelson. Bryan grew up in Milaca and graduated from Milaca High School in 1992. In younger years, Bryan was a Sunday newspaper delivery driver in Duluth, MN. Bryan went to technical college to become a diesel mechanic and worked at MTW. Bryan also worked at an auto body shop. Bryan worked at GL Herges Excavating and installed sewer...

Gertrude Eleanor Kiel (Rudisill) was born May 21, 1938 to Anne and Lester Rudisill in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was one of six siblings: Betty, Bob, Donald, Harry, Gertrude, and Carol. The family moved from Grand Rapids to the family farm north of Milaca. Gert and her siblings attended the Milaca schools. She married her high school sweetheart, Jim Kiel on May 24, 1957 and were married 55 years prior to Jim's death on October 2, 2012. To this marriage came six children: Pam, Kathy, Julie, Greg, Sarah, and Mike. Julie and Greg died of crib death in their first months of life. Kathy was hit by a car on 169 getting the mail at the age of 12. The flowering crab tree you see in all...

Gertrude "Gert" Kiel, age 86, passed away Sunday, October 13, 2024. Funeral service will be held Monday, October 21, 2024 at 11 AM at the Christian Reformed Church in Pease. Burial will follow at Pease Cemetery. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church.

Irene Kok, age 92, of Milaca, passed away September 29, 2024. Memorial services will be held Friday, October 4, 2024 at 2 PM at the Christian Reformed Church in Pease. Irene Kok was born on July 31, 1932, to George and Alice (Van De Riet) Kiel in Milaca Minnesota. She graduated from Pease Christian School and attended Milaca High School. She spent a semester at Calvin College. Irene taught school in Pease. She was known for getting the students to work by rewarding them with the promise of a softball game. She was united in marriage to John Kok on October 27, 1953. She lived on the family farm for 71 years. She gardened into her eighties and enjoyed many sunsets. Irene was a lifelong...

Leota Marudas, age 94, passed away peacefully at her home in Milaca on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Memorial mass will be held Friday, September 27, 2024 at 10:30 AM at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Milaca. Interment will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Leota Ruth Marudas was born September 14, 1930 to Ray and Dottie (Grow) Jennison in Princeton. She graduated from Princeton High School and began a career with the telephone company (Northwestern Bell, Frontier, Contel, and Verizon). She was united in marriage to James Marudas in 1949. Leota enjoyed flowers, painting, travel, baking, and spending time...

Terry Gay Orsburne, age 72, of Milaca, passed away Saturday, September 14, 2024. He was loved by many and will be painstakingly missed by all. He will forever be in our hearts. Terry was preceded in death by his parents, Gaylord and Leona Orsburne and brothers, Dale Batchelder and Andrew Orsburne. He is survived by his wife, life partner and best friend, Diane Orsburne; sons, Jason (Tina) Orsburne, Justin Orsburne and Joseph (Rosie) Orsburne; brothers, David (Karen) Orsburne and Raymond (Chris) Orsburne; sisters, Roxanne (Joe) Freese and Robin (Fred) Bachman; eleven grandchildren; one great-granddaughter and many nieces, nephews and friends. A Celebration of Life will be held in...

Calvin James Alley born September 13, 1935, in Flin Flon Manitoba, Canada to Henry and Katherine (Toews) Alley. The family relocated to Montevideo, MN in 1938 to his grandfather's farm. He then lived in Minneapolis, MN for a short period of time before enlisting in the Army where he served as an Intelligence Specialist in occupied Germany from 1955-1957. He was a member of the Milaca American Legion Post 178 for 40 years, at one time serving as the Vice Commander. He married Mary Elizabeth Paull August 1, 1957, in Butte, Montana at the Mountain View Methodist Church. They recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary. He worked in the copper mines in Butte, Montana until he...

Shirley Colleen (Warren) Ambrosch, formerly of Ogilvie, passed away at the age of 84, on August 22, 2024 at the St. Clare's Living Community of Mora surrounded by family. Shirley was born on June 26, 1940 to Glen and Geraldine (Jones) Warren of Onamia. The family then moved to Princeton where Shirley and her siblings lived and attended school. Shirley married Robert Alfred Ambrosch, Sr. on April 11, 1958. To this union, six children were born. Shirley enjoyed gardening, cooking, oil painting, reading, and going for walks. During her time at St. Clare's Living Community, she enjoyed her music and bingo activities and social resident gatherings. She is survived by her husband, Robert...

Carol Kragt, age 77, of Milaca, passed away Thursday, August 22, 2024. Memorial service will be held Saturday, September 7, 2024 at 11 AM at the Christian Reformed Church in Pease. Burial will follow at Pease Cemetery. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Carol Ann (Goslinga) Kragt was born on November 4, 1946 to Theodore and Angeline (Brinks) Goslinga. She was raised on a farm near Pease and attended Pease Christian School and Milaca High School. After she graduated, she moved to the big city of Minneapolis and worked for Zurich American Insurance Co. until she married James Kragt on September 3, 1965. Jim farmed and Carol worked at Ben...