Bonnie Rust

Bonnie Marie (Klai) Rust, 82, died Sunday, April 11, 2010, at Midwest Home Health, Fergus Falls. She was born at Cavalier, ND, on July 28, 1927, the oldest of three daughters born to Ralph and Julia (Petterson) Klai. She was claimed by God as His child in the Sacrament of Baptism shared with her on December 1, 1927, by the Pastor of the Dovre Lutheran Church of Osnabrock, ND. Following instruction in God’s word in her home and church, she affirmed her relationship to God in the Rite of Confirmation in the Dovre Lutheran Church. She attended the public school near her home and graduated from the Osnabrock High School on June 1, 1945. Following graduation she attended classes in the St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Fargo, ND and became a Registered Nurse in 1949. She was employed at Fargo, Thief River Falls, Chicago and Seattle. On June 14, 1958, she exchanged marriage vows with Kenneth Rust at the Mayville Lutheran Church in Mayville, ND. They made their home briefly at Grand Forks, ND, before moving to St. Paul, MN, where her husband attended Luther Seminary in preparation for the ordained ministry. They accepted calls to St. John American Lutheran in Sterling, NE, where they lived from July 1961 to November 1970 and Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade, MN from December 1970 to May 1990. Their home was blessed with one daughter, Heidi Marie. She was a devoted wife and mother and continued her nursing talents in private duty nursing and also in performing hospice duties to neighbors before the hospice program was even begun. She was a model pastor’s wife in that she supported her husband in all his duties and always had a listening ear to anyone who might come to their house or called on the telephone. She used her nursing talents in being a tender and caring person to every person who came in contact with her. In May 1990, they moved to Fergus Falls, MN where her husband began part time employment at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church until his retirement in 1999 and also part time during the year of 2006. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth, of Fergus Falls; her daughter, Heidi Marie Erdahl, of Bow, NH; a granddaughter, Rebecca Marie, a student at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN; two sisters, Fran Bertheuson of Fargo, ND and Judy (Buddy) Fetters of Cuero, TX; a sister-in-law, Edris (Herb) Meier of New York Mills, MN; several nieces; one nephew and many cousins, relatives and friends. We thank God for the gift of faith and the gift of eternal life shared with Bonnie and for the host of family and friends that give tribute to her by their continued support of her family. Soli Deo Gloria! – To God alone be the glory! Memorials are preferred to the donors choice.