Betty Jean Lindstrom

BETTY JEAN LINDSTROM...

was born on March 13, 1927 in Ironwood, Michigan to Walter J. Anderson and Hilda Pauline Olson. She grew up in Ironwood and graduated from L. Wright High School in 1945. Betty subsequently went to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota and graduated in 1949 with a degree in Social Work. Gustavus is also where she met her future husband, Lester Emerald Lindstrom. For the next ten years Betty worked as a child case worker in two locations: St. Paul, Minnesota for the Board of Christian Service and Hayward, Wisconsin for the county. Betty was married on October 4th, 1958 to Lester in Ironwood. In the summer of 1959, Betty and Lester lived in the Badlands National Monument Park because Lester was a seasonal park ranger and Betty helped collect over 500 plants, drying them, and identifying them. Those plants are still in the basement preservation vault at the monument. Then for the next 8 years or so, Betty and Lester moved around because Lester was getting a PhD in Botany from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. Lester would teach a year, to support the family, and go to school a year. These places that Betty and Lester lived were: Huron, South Dakota (where their daughter, Mae Beth was born), Ironwood, Valley City, North Dakota, and Manhattan (where their son Frederick was born). In 1967, Betty and Lester moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota because Lester obtained a teaching position at St. Cloud State University. On December 29, 1999, Lester preceded her in death. Following his death, Betty continued living in St. Cloud until June, 2002, when she came to live with her daughter in Slayton, Minnesota because of dementia. In March of 2006, Betty moved to wonderful Edgebrook Care Center in Edgerton, Minnesota until October 13, 2015 when she moved back to her daughter’s home. On Friday, October 16, 2015, Betty Jean passed away peacefully at the age of 88 years, seven months, and three days.

Betty was a very active member of Salem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN. She absolutely knew her Lord Jesus Christ and Savior. Her petite size was the opposite of her huge ability to have a lot of fun and she had SPUNK. Her thoughtfulness and gracious manners were not surpassed. She did not want to bother you, take too much of one’s time, or hurt you. The Edgebrook Care Center staff can attest to this. She took such an interest in everything and everything was important. Life is so interesting, she would say. Betty Jean would also say, “The world is so full of so many wonderful things, we should all be as happy as kings.” She took such an interest in everything her children were doing. She would rather they do school homework than help in the kitchen. “I can do that,” she would say, “You don’t have to.” She was a member of the St. Cloud State University faculty wives.

She is lovingly remembered by her children, Dr. Mae Beth Lindstrom-Wold and her husband, Pastor David Wold of Slayton and Frederick Anders Lindstrom and his wife Catherine of Sartell, Minnesota, Fred and Catherine’s three children, Michael Andrew, Matthew Jacob and Zachary Emerald. She is preceded in death by her husband, Lester; her parents; and one brother.