Yvette Terhaar

Yvette Berta Huisentruit Terhaar, age 93 years, 11 months, and 10 days, passed away Monday, December 10, 2018 at the CentraCare Health Nursing Home, surrounded by her loving family.

Yvette was born December 21, 1924 in Grey Eagle, Minnesota to Alphonse and Adella (Bruns) Huisentruit. She attended grade school in Freeport and Melrose. In the spring of 1942, Yvette hitchhiked to St. Cloud and began work as one of the original "Rosie the Riveters" for a company called Char Gale in what is now the current Electrolux Manufacturing facility. Char Gale was a defense contractor at the time, building C-46 Transport Planes for the U.S. Army Air Corps, to be used in the campaigns raging in the Pacific and European Theaters of War.

After the war, Yvette was united in marriage to John Terhaar on September 1, 1945 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Melrose. Soon after they began farming in Grove Township, west of New Munich. From this union they had three children, John, Mike, and Mary. They later divorced in 1965.
A true child of the Great Depression, Yvette was known as thrifty, hardworking, and being very self-sufficient. She had a hard time throwing anything away, because, in her words, "You never know."

Canning, gardening, raising chickens, hogs and cattle for butchering and filling the smokehouse was just another day's work on the farm for her. Yvette also worked as a waitress at Chicks Riverside Restaurant on the Sauk River west of Melrose. A self-taught cook, Yvette could produce a meal out of anything that would rival the best chefs of the time.

In September of 1965, tragedy struck and Yvette was involved in a horrific automobile accident, resulting in a stay at the St. Cloud Hospital for 27 months, 12 of which were spent in traction, flat on her back, mending multiple compound fractures in both legs and arms.

In 1972 Yvette met Innocent Wiechmann and they were together until his death in 1992. Innie and Yvette's hobbies included playing cards, shaking dice, watching Wheel of Fortune, and fishing Long Lake, a.k.a. "The Old Favorite." If she caught a fish that was not in season, like a bass for instance, and was likely to die if released, she would keep the fish in an old garage sale purse she carried for just this purpose, much to the chagrin of Innie who envisioned his prize Lund confiscated by the DNR for a skunky old bass. Yvette also was a chauffeur for many of her friends who did not drive and the ladies could be seen speeding down the freeway heading to St. Cloud in search of a bargain.

Yvette was also a spiritual person, never was heard saying a bad word about anyone, attended Sunday Mass regularly, observed the Holy Days, and prayed her rosary. Yvette was also blessed with a wonderful sense of humor, and could be a bit of a prankster. She was also humble, to the core.

Yvette was preceded in death by her parents, significant other Innie, brothers and sisters, Julius, Maurice, Roger, Daniel, Gordon, Ruth, Jane, Alphonse, and Jerry. She also never gave up hope that her niece, Jody Huisentruit would make it back home safely someday.

Yvette is survived by her children, John, Somerset, Wisconsin, Mike, Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Mary, Chanhassen, Minnesota, granddaughters, Heidi and Katie, grandson, Adam, and great-grandsons, Jaydee, Samuel, and Jackson, and her last remaining sibling, Carol Peterson, St. Cloud. Also, many nieces and nephews in Minnesota, Montana, Maryland, Colorado, and Florida.

To honor our mother's wishes, a brief memorial was held graveside for immediate family only at 3 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2018.

We Love You Mom