June Agnes Larson

June A. Larson
June 11, 1927 to April 28, 2019

June A. Larson, 91, passed away peacefully on April 28, 2019, at The Waterford Memory Care Unit, Park Falls, Wisconsin, under the care of Flambeau Home Health and Hospice.

June was born June 11, 1927, in Ogema, Wisconsin, to William and Laura (Gabriel) Luedke, the eighth of nine children. She grew up on the family dairy farm located just off the Ogema-Prentice Road and attended Prentice schools. She was an excellent student and participated in many extracurricular activities, including glee club, plays, the school paper and yearbook. She was confirmed in 1942 at Ogema First Lutheran Church, where she sang in the choir.

Upon graduating from Prentice High School in 1945, she moved to St. Paul to work at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, first in the mail room and then in the typing pool. She made many trips back home to Ogema by train, and on one of her visits, June caught the eye of Edward Larson, who hauled milk for the Luedke farm. A courtship ensued, and June and Eddie were married at the Ogema Baptist Church on November 26, 1949.

As they raised their family, June became Eddie's partner in life and business ventures based in Ogema, starting out running a dairy farm on Highway 86 east of town, trucking forest products and hauling milk; selling the farm to move next to their trucking business garage just north of town on Highway 13; expanding into spreading agricultural lime, hauling gravel, excavating and bulldozing; and shifting to manufacturing at Larson Pallet Company, with an accompanying wood yard, sawmill and trucking business to haul the pallets to markets in the Midwest.

June was Eddie's caregiver at their home as he succumbed to the effects of multiple sclerosis, with him being bedridden from 1978 until his death on November 28, 1999, two days after their 50th wedding anniversary. June lived in the family home until 2011, when she moved to Duroy Terrace Assisted Living in Phillips. With advancing dementia, she moved to Regency House Assisted Living in Phillips in 2014, and finally to The Waterford Memory Care Unit in Park Falls in 2017.

June enjoyed reading, singing, babies and small children, taking walks, "tea time," listening to music, watching clouds and sunsets, and visiting and corresponding with relatives and friends. She will be remembered as a lovely, sweet lady with beautiful white hair, a twinkle in her eye, a spring in her step, and a warm smile.

She is survived by three children: Gerald (Sarah), Prentice; Robert (Gayle), Ogema; and Jeanne (Ed Moenssen), Phillips; by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; one sister, Dora (Mrs. Harvey) Molitor, Lino Lakes, MN; three sisters-in-law: Shirley (Mrs. Richard) Luedke, Westboro; Joan (Mrs. Albert) Luedke, Arvada, CO; and Lois (Mrs. Steve) Rued, Curtiss; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, seven of her eight siblings: Walter, Josephine (Stanek), Richard, Elsie, Theodore, Ernest and Albert; and by one granddaughter, Kelly Ann Larson.

A memorial service will be held at the First Lutheran Church in Ogema on Saturday, June 1, 2019, at 3:00 p.m., with Pastor Paul Oppedahl officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association (https://www.alz.org/) or the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (https://www.nationalmssociety.org/).

Special thanks go to the staff and volunteers of Duroy Terrace and Regency House Assisted Living, Flambeau Hospital, Flambeau Home Health and Hospice, and The Waterford Memory Care Unit for their kind care of June during her long journey home.

The Heindl Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.