Martha Bakken
May 12, 1911 — May 28, 2015
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Martha Ingeborg Lunde Bakken died on May 28, 2015, at the age of 104 years and 16 days. She was a resident of Tuff Village from 2002 until 2011 when she moved to the Tuff Nursing Home. Memorial services will begin at 11:00 am on Monday, June 1, 2015, at the Palisade Lutheran Church, rural Garretson, Rock County, Minnesota. Private family burial will precede the service on Monday. Visitation with the family present will be from 4-7:00 pm Sunday, at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to the Tuff Memorial Home Foundation or Palisade Lutheran Cemetery.
She was born in Luverne Township on May 12, 1911, to Nels and Emma (Rossum) Lunde of Luverne and was a lifelong resident of Rock County. Following her 1929 graduation from Luverne High School and her teacher preparation in the Luverne Normal Class of 1930, she taught in Rock County School District 4E and later in District 13, which she herself had attended.
In accordance with the custom of the time, she resigned her teaching position when she married Obed Bakken on June 26, 1940, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, the Rev. L.P. Lund officiating. They lived on a farm west of Luverne near Palisade Lutheran Church until they moved to The Oaks in 1997. She was a member of Palisade Lutheran Church where she was a Sunday School teacher and active member of the Ladies’ Aid Society (ELCW) and the Mary circle. Her interest in gardening was fostered by her years of membership in the Tri-State Garden Club.
Mr. and Mrs. Bakken were the parents of Howard (Mary Ann) of Hendersonville, NC and Richard (Linda) of rural Rock County, MN. Mrs. Bakken is survived by her sons and their wives; six grandchildren: Ethan Bakken, Emily Bakken Anderson (Chad), Peter Bakken (Carrie), Sara Bakken Lee (Eric), Jay Bakken (Suzie), and Steven Bakken (Mary). Nine great-grandchildren also survive, in addition to nine nieces and nephews, and her sister-in-law, Arla Jacobson Bakken.
Her husband Obed H. Bakken preceded her in death in 2003, her brother Hartman B. Lunde in 1979, and her sister Nora Lunde Jacobson in 2000.
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