Person Page - 1169

Bezanson Thomas W., age 75, of Golden Valley.

Preceded in death by parents, Percy & Mattie, and brother, Jim.

Survived by wife, Ruth; daughter, Stacy; son, Brian & wife Gail; granddaughters, Beth & Kate; brother, Robert; sister & brother-in-law, Jean & Gene Oberfeld; 12 nieces & nephews. WWII Veteran and member of Robbinsdale Area Shriner's Club.

Service 2 PM Friday, Valley of Peace Lutheran Church, Golden Valley. Friends may call 5-8 PM Thursday at Washburn-McReavy DuSchane Chapel, Robbinsdale, and 1 hour before the service Friday at church. Masonic Service 7 PM Thursday. Graveside service 11 AM Saturday, Acacia Park Cemetery.²

Bezanson, Ruth Marie, born Jan. 15, 1927; died Aug. 23.

Preceded in death by husband, Thomas; parents, Carl & Hulda Johnson; brother, Marvin Johnson & wife, Marilyn.

Survived by daughter, Stacy; son, Brian & wife Gail; granddaughters, Elizabeth Putz & husband, Joe, Katherine Bezanson; great-granddaughter, Paige Marie Putz; also survived by sister, Rhoda Gates & husband, Robert; 12 nieces & nephews; numerous great-nieces & nephews.

Memorial service 3 PM, Monday, Aug. 28, at Valley of Peace Lutheran Church, Golden Valley. Visitation beginning at 2 PM, Washburn-McReavy DuSchane Chapel.²

Jean Oberfeld
(October 18, 1927 - December 21, 2014)

Jean Carol Oberfeld passed away Sunday, December 21, 2014, in her home at Lake Song Assisted Living in Onamia, MN at the age of 87 years, 2 months, 3 days.

Funeral services will be held at Wahkon Presbyterian Church, Wahkon, MN January 3, 2015, 11:00 a.m., with visitation one hour before the service. Private interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Monday, January 5, 2015.

Arrangements by Mille Lacs Funeral Home, Isle, MN

Casketbearers are Jean’s six grandchildren – Richard Oberfeld, Gretchen Karg, Thomas Oberfeld, Jon Oberfeld, Travis Oberfeld and Kristin Oberfeld.

Jean is survived by sons David (Pamella) of Isle, Steven (Joan) of Plano, Texas, and Dann (Sue) of Isle; six grandchildren – Richard Oberfeld, Gretchen Karg, Thomas Oberfeld, Jon Oberfeld, Travis Oberfeld and Kristin Oberfeld; nine great grandchildren – Savanna Oberfeld, Olivia Oberfeld, Lily Karg, Caleb Karg, Ian Oberfeld, Noah Oberfeld, Marissa Oberfeld, Cara Oberfeld, and Ethan Oberfeld; dear friend and sister-in-law Lorraine Oberfeld; treasured nieces and nephews – Barbara, Janet, Judy, and Stacy Bezanson, Brian and James Bezanson, and Gary Oberfeld. She was preceded in death by her husband Gene; infant daughters Carol Jean and Joan Louise; parents James and Mattie (Larson) Bezanson, and brothers Robert, James, and Thomas Bezanson.

Jean Carol (Bezanson) Oberfeld was born in Minneapolis MN, October 18, 1927 to James and Mattie Bezanson, the youngest of four children and the only girl. Her brother James died of illness at the young age of seventeen. Her brothers Bob and Tom, who began spoiling her at birth, continued doing so the rest of their days.

Jean’s grandparents, James and Grace Bezanson, were early homesteaders in Wahkon on the shores of Mille Lacs Lake. Many of Jean’s fondest memories were of summers spent at her grandparents’ home playing with her brothers and cousins – the Bezansons, Withams and Bertelsons. Jean attended school in Minneapolis and graduated from Central High School in 1945 where she was known as “Buzzie”. She attended the University of Minnesota for a short time and would proclaim from time to time that while there she excelled in “Modern Dance”.

Through mutual friends Jean met a 6’3” strapping Marine named Gene Oberfeld and after a one year romance they were married on November 5, 1948 and from then on were known as Big Gene and Little Jean. In 1950, one month after their first son was born Big Gene was called back to active duty in The United States Marine Corps and served during the Korean War for eighteen months. After his safe return two more sons were born into the family – Steven in November 1952 and Dann in September 1956. Two daughters, Carol Jean and Joan Louise, were later born and died at birth.

The young family ‘s home on West Broadway in Robbinsdale, MN served as the gathering place for the neighborhood kids with Jean right in the midst of it all and loving every minute of it. Jean played ball, climbed trees, and joined in the snowball fights just as though she was one of the kids. Summers were still spent with her extended family at her grandparents’ lake home. How excited Jean was when in 1961 she and her husband purchased a lake home of their own just two doors down from her grandparents’ home. In the winter of 1964 Gene and Jean bought Hank’s Resort in Wahkon and moved there from Robbinsdale in March, 1965. Jean worked hard at the resort to make it into a fun, family resort. They sold the resort in 1969 and moved to Isle, MN where they purchased the Coast to Coast Hardware Store, owning and operating it until 1990. After retirement they spent winters in Tucson AZ. Jean loved the Arizona climate and developed many enduring friendships with people from all over the Midwest and Canada who also wintered there.

Even though she worked diligently at the family owned resort and hardware store Jean felt a calling to be a caregiver. She worked at Miller Nursing Home in Isle during the 1970’s and later at the Mille Lacs Nursing Home in Onamia well into her sixties. It was work that she loved. Sadly, rheumatoid arthritis forced her into full retirement. But, this did give her more time to do her favorite things – bridge 3 times weekly, golf twice a week, traveling , reading and shopping!

Jean was an enthusiastic community volunteer. She served as a Cub Scout Den Mother and was active in the Isle Civic Association serving as Isle Days Coordinator and Miss Isle Pageant Director. She loved her work with Mille Lacs Community Theater and Silver Threads Revue. She founded the Junior Golf League, was a member of Eastern Star, served on the Mille Lacs County Social Service Board, worked with Project Fun in Isle, was a member of the Mille Lacs Health System Auxiliary, and was a volunteer with Mille Lacs Hospice.

Jean was a woman of strong faith. She hosted a women’s Bible study in her home, was a Sunday School teacher and council member at Faith Lutheran Church in Isle, and in later years became a member of Wahkon Presbyterian Church.

In July 2012, as her health began to decline, Jean moved from her home in Isle to Lake Song Assisted Living in Onamia and then in January 2014, just one year ago, she moved into an apartment within the Memory Care Unit at Lake Song. Jean loved her caregivers and would tell everyone “if I can’t be at home then I want to be at Lake Song”.

Jean was a fun loving person who loved to be “on the go”. Her greatest joy was spending time with her family and her countless friends.²