Opal Ross

Opal M. Ross, age 86 of Sauk Centre, died on November 5, 2008 at St. Michael's Hospital in Sauk Centre.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, November 10, 2008 at First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Rebecca Thomas officiating. Interment will follow in Greenwood Cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday at First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre.

Opal Ross was born August 13, 1922 in Dows, Iowa to Melvin and Alma (Hanson) Gardalen. She was united in marriage to Richard L. Ross on November 16, 1940 in Webster City, Iowa. They resided in Dows, Iowa; Alexander, Iowa; and Woolstock, Iowa before moving to a farm in Kandota Township, Todd County, Minnesota in 1957. They retired from the farm in 1978 and moved into Sauk Centre. She later worked at the Sauk Centre Elementary School as a kitchen assistant for 15 years.Opal was a member of First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. She enjoyed gardening, flowers, baking, and attending the annual Corn Days in Dows, Iowa.

Survivors include her children, Shirley (Jerry) Rachey of Sauk Centre, Donna (Dean, Sr.) Bienusa of Sauk Centre, Carol (Dave) Doubrava of Sauk Centre, Ricky Ross of Sauk Centre, Randy (Sally) Ross of Sauk Centre, LuAnn (David) Bullock of Alexandria, and Rodney Ross of Sauk Centre; 21 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren; and brother, Kenneth Gardalen of Latimer, Iowa.

Opal was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Richard Ross on April 26, 1997; and brother, Orville Gardalen.

Serving as casket bearers will be her grandsons, Keith and Kevin Rachey, Lonnie Hendrickson, Derek and Damon Bullock, Nicky, Corie, Dustin, and Jeremy Ross.