Gene Elizabeth Mjelde

Gene Elizabeth (Sharp) Mjelde, 92, a resident of Fergus Falls, passed away Saturday, June 24, 2017.
She was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, on June 18, 1925. Parents were Earl and Bessie (Micheals) Sharp. Gene spent the first 12 years of her life on a farm near Aberdeen, South Dakota. After that the family moved to Everdell where they continued farming.
Gene graduated from Campbell High School and then entered the Rogers & Brenner School of Cosmetology in Minneapolis. She returned to Fergus Falls and worked as a beauty operator for Art Lysne and later on for Eunice’s Beauty Shop. She also worked at Johnson Drug.
In 1947, Gene married Wallace (Sonny) Mjelde and they purchased the Neighborhood Grocery which they owned and operated for 26 years. Gene then worked part-time at the Bridal Shop and Midwest Fashions.
Gene was a faithful member of the Federated Church, taught preschool Sunday school, and belonged to the quilting group.
Her family and friends were special to her. She enjoyed all of her family, and gatherings of the family for all holidays and other occasions. Gene was a wonderful cook and homemaker, known for her potato salad and decorative sugar cookies. She also enjoyed the summers at their cottage on Otter Tail Lake.
Gene enjoyed all crafts, sewing, birds, and other wildlife and had a “green thumb” for household plants. She was a dear and devoted wife and put up with her husband’s odd-ball sense of humor for many, many years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Wallace “Sonny” in 2015, two brothers, Chester and Harry, and her great-granddaughter Annie Grace Blake.
She is survived by her daughter Sherry (Robert) Landrud of Edina; son Myron (Pam) Mjelde of Fergus Falls; granddaughters Nicole (Mike) Tadros, Naomi (Ty Canton) Mjelde, Greta (Paul) Peters, and Megan (Jonathan) Blake; grandson Brandon Mjelde; and great-granddaughters Skyla Mjelde, Evelyn Blake; and great-grandsons, Dylan and Hunter Canton, Oliver Blake, and William Peters.
Memorials are preferred to the Lake Region Healthcare Cancer Care & Research Center or the MS
Society.

Visitation: 5-7 PM Thursday, June 29, 2017, with a 6:30 public prayer service at Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls, and resumes one hour prior to the service at the church
Service: 11:00 AM Friday, June 30, 2017 at Federated Church in Fergus Falls
Clergy: Reverend Doug Dent
Burial: Oak Grove Cemetery in Fergus Falls
Funeral Home: Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls


Online condolences may be sent to www.OlsonFuneralHome.com