Bonnie L. Sanden
Bonnie L. Sanden, 83, Lake Mills, passed away Friday, March 10, 2017 at the Lake Mills Care Center. A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, April 8, at Salem Lutheran Church, Lake Mills, with Pastor Melinda McCluskey officiating. Family will greet relatives and friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Inurnment will take place at a later date at Bristol Cemetery, rural Joice. Mittelstadt Funeral Home, Lake Mills, was in charge of arrangements.
Bonnie Lou Sanden was born Feb. 7, 1934, near Forest City, the youngest of seven children, to Oscar and Marie (Hagen) Burseth. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. She was confirmed at Winnebago Lutheran Church by Rev. H.F. Huseth.
Bonnie attended Kindergarten to second grade at Forest City. The family moved to a farm near Leland when she was eight. She then attended Country School Center #5 through the eighth grade. She then attended Lake Mills High School.
Bonnie loved the farm, having all the animals with baby chicks, baby ducks, geese, cats and dogs besides cows, pigs, and horses. She loved to ride horses and did a great deal of that. She always took lunches to the men working in the fields. She also helped with chores.
She was united in marriage to Sterling Sanden, June 15, 1952, at Winnebago Lutheran Church. They resided on the Sanden family farm near Joice, living in one of the two homes on the same place, farming with his parents. To this union, three children were born: Robert, Pamela and Lynn. They lived on the family farm until 1959, when they built a new home in Lake Mills.
In 1963, they purchased a farm south of Emmons, Minn., on the Iowa side, and sold their home in Lake Mills. Sterling continued farming and also worked at Graphic Publishing Co.
In 1968, to make it easier for transportation for the children to attend their school activities, they decided to move back to Lake Mills and build a home close to the school for the children. They lived there for 31 years.
During this time, Bonnie had quit Deluxe Products and went back to business school and later was employed at Queen Products of Albert Lea in the purchasing department office. She began as clerk-typist and was later promoted to be a buyer for products needed to manufacture ice machines. She worked for Queen Products, which later became Scottsman Ice Systems. She worked here for over 23 years and decided to take early retirement when Scottsman decided to close the Albert Lea factory and move to Fairfax, S.C. She remained with Scottsman until March 31, 1989, but did fly to South Carolina after that to help out with purchasing for a short time.
After retiring, she decided to take nurses training classes and began working at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home for several years.
Bonnie enjoyed traveling, taking many trips with their children, ballroom dancing, square dancing, country music shows, camping, going to Blue Grass Festivals. In 1983, they went to Europe, visiting and sightseeing in Germany, Belgium, France, Holland and Switzerland.
In 1999, Bonnie and Sterling decided to build a new home in a different section of Lake Mills, so they sold their home of 31 years. They were also kept busy with rental properties since 1968. In 1989, they purchased the Sanden Family (Century Farm), where their oldest son, Robert, and his wife Rose, still live.
Bonnie has been a member of Salem Lutheran Church since 1959, where she was active in circle, Alter Guild, and taught Sunday school. She cherished her faith in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She loved God’s creation, loved beautiful flowers and enjoyed gardening.
Bonnie was always an energetic, caring person, very concerned over her family members, always wanting to stay close getting together for all holidays and sometimes in between.
She is survived by her children: Robert and his wife, Rose; Pamela Brackey; and Lynn Sanden; granddaughters: Crystal Sanden; Ashley (Brackey) Lawson and her husband, Randy; Becky (Brackey) Shaw and her husband, Casey; and one great-grandson, Dylan Sanden.
Bonnie was preceded in death by her husband, Sterling; her parents Oscar and Marie Burseth; brothers: Emery Burseth; Melvin and his wife, Dorothy Burseth; Vernon and his wife, Rose Marie Burseth; and Orville Burseth; sisters: Irene and her husband, Leonard Pletcher; and Doris Stenzel; sisters-in-law: Arlene and her husband, Lyle Cunningham; and Adeline and her husband, Bert Jones; mother- and father-in-law, Arthor and Cora Sanden; and son-in-law, Danny Brackey.
