TANGEN, Myrtle (Gavle) 1906-2004
GAVLE, FORDE, TANGEN, SIVESIND, GARDNER, GRIFFIN, SKATTEBO, HILLIS, ELLIS, GASPERS, FROSSMO
Posted By: Connie L. Ellis (email)
Date: 5/15/2018 at 12:44:14
SOURCE: THE WAUKON STANDARD, newspaper, December 1, 2004 (page number is not known)
Contributor: Connie Ellis (Not related)Myrtle Aletta Tangen, age 98, of Waukon, Iowa died Tuesday November 23, 2004 at Northgate Care Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held on Saturday November 27, 2004 at the Big Canoe Lutheran Church in rural Decorah, Iowa with Pastor David Andreae officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Myrtle Aletta was born April 15, 1906 on the Hanover Township, rural Allamakee County, Iowa farm of her parents Nils and Betty (Forde) Gavle. She was baptized and confirmed at the Canoe Lutheran Church and attended the rural Iowa River School. In her first year at Waukon High School, Myrtle's mother died and she returned home to help with the farm and family.*
On October 24, 1929 she married John Elder Tangen at her father's home. They began farming on the Tangen home farm in rural Dorchester, Iowa. John died in 1944 and Myrtle continued the farming operation. In 1955 she began working for Quandahl Food Ranch in Waukon in the meat and later produce departments. She worked there for 35 years and continued living in the country until moving to Waukon in 1993. Since 1997 she had been a resident at Northgate Care Center.
Myrtle was a life-long member of the Big Canoe Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday School for many years and was active in Ladies Aid and Hannah Circle. Myrtle enjoyed painting ceramics, quilting and sewing, making things out of wood, and playing cards. She had a passion for taking care of her yard and garden. She loved to raise flowers and tend to her fish pond. She also enjoyed visiting with her friends and always looked forward to spending time with her family.
Myrtle A. Tangen was survived by her four children: Gordon (Sandra) Tangen, Mary Jean (Don) Sivesind, and John (JoAnn) Tangen, all of Dorchester, Iowa, and Jeanette "Janet" (David) Starr of Seattle, Washington; 15 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband John; a sister Belma Gavle; and three brothers Orville Gavle, Edgar Gavle, and Norris Gavle. Honorary casketbearers were her granddaughters: Nancy Gardner, Debbie Griffin, Cindy Skattebo, Pam Hillis, Jennifer Ellis, Julie Gaspers, Nan Tangen, and Rachel Tangen. Casketbearers were her grandsons: Greg Tangen, Doug Tangen, Jeff Sivesind, James Sivesind, Todd Frossmo, Michael Tangen, and Jeremy Tangen.
*Note from the transcriber: Because there were no school buses to drive around in the country to pick up the students enrolled in high school, it was a common practice for the students to leave their families and "live in town" with a relative or with friends of the family during the entire school year. Some would pay for their boarding arrangement while others worked for their room and board. Consequently many students back in those days stopped going to school after their 8th grade graduations due to such reasons as the lack of transportation, the lack of money to pay for boarding "in town", no family or friends living in town, or as was the case for Myrtle, she was needed at home due to the death of her mother.
Allamakee Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen