Mavis Gunderson
October 16, 1937 ~ December 20, 2020
Mavis E. Gunderson 83, Serenity Living Center, Dilworth, MN formally of Detroit Lakes, passed away Sunday December 20, 2020 at Essentia Hospital in Fargo, ND. Mavis was born October 16, 1937 in Norman County, MN to Amos and Christine (Merkens) Goshinshki.
She grew up in Hillsboro, ND. She attended school in Hillsboro, ND and Hastings, NE. The family lived in Hastings, NE during WWII while the parents worked in a defense plant. The family returned to Hillsboro, ND after the war. After she completed school in Hillsboro, she attended practical nurses training at Bethesda Hospital in Crookston, MN. She married Mearl Gunderson in Twin Valley, MN on June 22, 1957. They lived in Twin Valley and Detroit Lakes, MN. She worked as an LPN in Twin Valley and Detroit Lakes.
She is survived by her sisters, Janet Bjornstad and Ruby Fronk; stepbrother Robert (Naomi) Rusdal; sisters-in-law LaVonne Miller, Phyllis and Helen Gunderson, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her husband Mearl; her parents, Amos and Christine; baby brother Truman Wesley; her father-in-law Clarence Gunderson, her mother-in-law Flossie Gunderson, her stepfather, Russel Rusdal; stepsister Betty Litzinger; 6 brothers-in- law and many aunts, uncles and cousins.
A family service will be held in the spring at Oak Grove Cemetery in Detroit Lakes, MN.
We were saddened to see the news of Mavis’s passing. We were the first people Mavis met when she moved to Serenity as my aunt Kathy lived across the hall from her. We just saw her sister at Panera a few weeks ago. We have many fond memories of Mavis. Thinking of Mavis’s family during this difficult time.
My heart aches for her smile and giggles. Here’s a cute story to attest to Mavis’ kind heart. I was working a shift at SAL and there happened to be a bad rain storm that day, I had to pick up deck furniture that had blown across the grass. I had gone outside without a rain coat and came in soaking wet. Mavis was watching the entire incident and saw that my clothes were soaked, so she went down the hall to her apartment, grabbed a green shirt and grey pants (exactly what I was wearing) and brought it to me. She insisted I wear her outfit until mine could be dried. She was the sweetest human.