Elva E. Kersten

Elva E. Kersten, 87, of Springfield, died Sunday, July 4, 1999, at St. John's Lutheran Home in Springfield, Minnesota.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Springfield, Minnesota, with burial in North Star E.U.B. Cemetery, rural Springfield.
Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. today and 7:30-9 a.m. Wednesday at the Sturm Funeral Home in Springfield. Visitation will continue for one hour prior to the service at the St. John's Lutheran Church.

She is survived by her sons, Kenneth and wife Maureen Kersten of Springfield, James and wife Pamela Kersten of Deephaven, Gary and wife Mary Kersten of Minnetonka; a daughter, Laurie and husband Larry Ulmen of North Mankato; 11 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; a sister, Alice and husband Bill Runck of Springfield.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband George in 1985; brothers, Virtus, Ralph, Louis and Vernon and a sister, Loretta.

She was born April 10, 1912, in Manning, Iowa, to George and Emma (Lamp) Fonken. As a child she moved with her family to Carroll, Iowa, then to a farm in Burnstown Township, Brown County in 1915. Elva received her education in District 42 country school and worked as a housekeeper. On September 9, 1936, she married George F. Kersten at the Evangelical United Bretheren Church in Springfield. Following marriage she and George farmed the Kersten farm, where she lived until entering the St. John Lutheran Home in 1997.

She was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, WELCA, the church ladies quilting group, the North Star Study Club and was a former member of the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Springfield.