Stella Durst

PINE ISLAND The funeral for Stella Durst will be 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Pine Island Assembly of God Church with Rev. Daniel Ashpole officiating. Burial will be in Berne Cemetery at Berne, MN.
Mrs. Durst, 85, of Pine Island, died of lymphoma Thursday (Dec. 20. 2007) at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester.
Stella Angeline Walker was born Jan. 9, 1922 in Pine Island Township, Goodhue County, MN to Lloyd and Hazel (Pike) Walker. She attended rural schools in the Pine Island area and married Gerald "Gary" Durst on June 14, 1939 in Rochester. The couple worked for Gary's father on the family farm before moving to the Moulton farm seven miles west of Pine Island in 1952 and farmed there until April of 2007 when they moved to Pine Island. They raised a son of their own and fostered six other children who were variously younger brothers and sisters of Stella, and a niece and nephew of Gary. She was a member of Pine Island Assembly of God Church and was active in Christians in Action. She enjoyed cooking and baking, crocheting, and playing cards and other games.
Survivors include her husband; a son Milo and his life partner Dirk van Sloten of Mequon, WI; two sisters Lorraine (Ruben) Bakken of Appleton, MN; and Wava (Delbert) Zeitlow of Boyd, MN; two brothers Clyde (Carol) Oswald of Caldwell, ID; and Clayton Oswald of Coco Beach, FL; a nephew Larry Durst of Rochester; and a niece Virginia "Ginny" Tripp of Saigon, Viet Nam; and many other nieces and nephews. Two sisters and a brother preceded her in death.
Friends may call from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Mahn Family Funeral Home Mahler Chapel, and one hour before the service Sunday at the Church.
Memorials are suggested to the Pine Island Assembly of God Church.