Ethel Carmen Haugen

Ethel Carmen Haugen, 99, of Wanamingo, died on September 24, 2020, at the Zumbrota Care Center. She was born May 1, 1921 in Forest City, Iowa to Albert and Annie (nee Moen) Carlson. She graduated from Leland High School in 1939 and from Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa in 1941. Ethel was a school teacher for many years and taught school at Scarville, Iowa, Superior, Iowa, Spirit Lake, Iowa, and also in Wanamingo, Minnesota. Ethel played Iowa girls basketball in high school and coached a junior boys basketball team. She attended the Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis for 1-1/2 years, and then spent several years caring for her invalid mother.

On September 29, 1957, at Salem Lutheran Church in Lake Mills, Iowa, Ethel married Oswald Haugen, a farmer from Wanamingo, Minnesota. They resided and farmed on the Haugen family farm in Wanamingo until retiring and moving to town in 1995. Ethel’s husband, Oswald, passed away in 2000. Ethel enjoyed sewing, reading, cooking, baking, and drinking coffee – lots of it. She was a very active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday School and Bethel, participated in Circle and WELCA, served on several church boards, participated in quilting groups, and was involved in many other church activities. In 2006, she moved from her home in Wanamingo to Heritage Hill Apartments, where she lived until 2016. In September 2016, Ethel made the move to the Zumbrota Nursing Home. We thank the entire Staff there for their loving care and concern, and making Ethel’s life comfortable during her four years there. We also thank the orthopedic nursing staff at St. Marys Hospital for their wonderful support and care given to Ethel.

Ethel is survived by her children: Mary (Mike) Murl of Rochester and Steven (Rita) Knapp of Pine Island; grandchildren, Jared (Kaitlin) Haen, Sarah Murl, Jared Murl, Tim (Nissa) Knapp, Andrew (Lindzy) Knapp, Melissa Knapp Loof; great-grandchildren, Carter, Cooper, Blake, and Piper Loof, Jack Knapp, and Lilly Knapp; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and her husband, Ethel was preceded in death by four sisters, Henrietta Carlson (who died as a young child), Ruth (Carlson) Monson, Agnes Carlson, and Henrietta (Carlson) Vogen, and two brothers, Odin Carlson and Arthur Carlson.

A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 28, 2020, at Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery in Wanamingo with Reverend Christopher Culuris officiating. Arrangements made by Mahn Family Funeral Home, Larson Chapel. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com.