Violet Hansen

Violet V. (Luepke) Hansen, age 99 of Sauk Centre, formerly of Morgan, passed away, peacefully, surrounded by her family on Monday, April 17, 2023, at the CentraCare Care Center in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 21 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Marty Porter officiating. Interment will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, April 24 at Bethany Lutheran Cemetery near Morgan, Minnesota.

Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at the church.

Violet (Luepke) Hansen was born on March 5, 1924 on a farm by Courtland, Minnesota to Herman and Frieda (Rautenberg) Luepke. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. She was the fourth of five children. Violet attended the Lutheran school in New Ulm through the eighth grade but had to quit to help on the farm when her mother became ill.

She loved to go to dances and that is where she met her future husband, Leonard Hansen. They married in 1942 and lived on a farm near Morgan, Minnesota. She was a busy farm wife with cooking, gardening, raising a family besides working at various part-time jobs. When her kids were grown, she worked as a receptionist for many years at the Morgan Veterinary office.

Violet and Leonard had three children: Judy, Carol, and Dale. It had always bothered Violet that she hadn’t gone to high school so when her children were all in school, she took a four-year correspondence course – graduating in two years.

After Leonard passed away in 2007, she continued to live and work on the farm until she was 92 years of age. She then moved to a house on the Rainbow Lodge property by Sauk Centre. She loved to help out at the restaurant there until the age of 97 when she moved into the CentraCare Nursing Home.

Survivors include her daughters, Judy (Pete) Panitzke of Sauk Centre and Carol (Ken) Podratz of Granite Falls; son, Dale (Karen) Hansen of Morgan; eight grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren; sister, Lucille Johnson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Violet was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard; parents; granddaughter, Amy Panitzke; father and mother-in-law, Alfred and Minnie Hansen; brothers, Wilbert and Melvin (Mae) Luepke; sister, Lorine (Carl) Wiese; brother-in-law, Sydney Johnson; and sister-in-law, Ruth (Harold) Kalk.           

Our family feels so thankful that God blessed us with the gift of a wonderful mom and grandma.