Lydia Larsen

Lydia was born August 18, 1916, at Wheaton, Minnesota, the daughter of Herman and Clara (Plath) Schmidtke.She was raised and educated in Wheaton, Minnesota where she graduated from High School. Following her graduation she moved to Armstrong, Iowa. She was married to Earl L. Larsen on December 30, 1937 at the Danish Lutheran Church in Ringsted, Iowa. The couple farmed East of Armstrong for a few years before purchasing a 320 acre farm near East Chain, Minnesota in 1951. The couple farmed there for many years until Earl''s death in 1986. Since 1986 the farm was leased but Lydia kept active with her flowers, feeding her horses and maintaining her building site and home. She was a longtime member of East Chain Lutheran Church, past officer of the ladies circle, past leader of the East Chain 4-H Club and member of the Polka Lovers Club of America. Lydia has been a resident of St. Luke''s Lutheran Care Center since 2002.Lydia is survived by her sons: Earl Dean (& wife Bonnie) Larsen of Blue Earth, David G. (& wife Becky) Larsen of Elmore, daughter, Donna J. (& husband Bob) Butterfield of Richfield, sister, Esther Petschke of Fairmont, 8 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, many nieces & nephews and other family.She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Earl in 1986, 7 brothers, 2 sisters and a great grandson-Wyatt Butterfield.