Doris Evelyn O’Dell, age 95, died May 23, 2020.
Doris was born February 9, 1925, in Lanesboro, Minn., to John and Alice (Hughes) Lyngen. Doris was Baptized and Confirmed by Rev. P. J. Nestande at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lanesboro, Minn.
Doris attended country schools in Holt Township and Lanesboro High School. In the 1940’s, she went to work as a hired girl at the farm home of her grandmother Elsie Hughes and then for the Dr. Ralph Johnson Family in Lanesboro, Minn. Doris went on to work in Rochester, Minn., where she met and married the love of her life, Gibson O’Dell on May 15, 1946. In 1957, Doris went to work for the ACS (Agriculture Conservation Service) in Rochester, Minn., where she worked for 13 years. In 1969, Doris and Gibson moved to Elba, Minn., where Doris sold Avon and served as Elba’s city clerk for 13 years.
Doris and Gibson celebrated 51 years together before he passed away in 1998. They operated a private campground near Altura for over 50 years, which they dearly loved but endured four severe floods. They enjoyed 20 years of traveling to Texas for the winter.
In 1998, Doris moved into Sylvan Manor Apartments in Lanesboro and volunteered at the Lanesboro Library for nine years. In 2017, she moved to Park Lane Estates in Preston, Minn.
Doris is survived by two sisters, Helen Rahn of Bloomington and Lois Peterson of Lanesboro, and many nieces and nephews. Doris was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and her brother Robert.
Graveside services for Doris will be 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, 2020, at St. Aloysius Cemetery in Elba, with the Reverend Kerry Eversole of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Lanesboro officiating. Hoff Funeral Service of St. Charles is assisting the family with arrangements.
Please share a memory of Doris at her online guestbook at www.hofffuneral.com. Memorials and cards of sympathy for the family may be mailed to Hoff Funeral Home, PO Box 576, St. Charles, Minn. 55972.