Corrine Belle Persson

Corrine Belle (Evenson) Persson was born on January 13, 1927, to Oscar and Ruth (Knutson) Evenson near Winger, Minnesota, where she grew up on a farm with her five siblings. She was baptized on February 20, 1927, at a Norwegian Lutheran church near Winger, and was confirmed on June 15, 1941. 

Corrine graduated from Mahnomen High School and moved to Chicago to live and work with her sister, Jeanette. She had never answered a telephone before but got a job with International Harvester as an office clerk.

On February 17, 1950, Corrine married Lloyd Albert Persson in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After a few years in Minneapolis, they decided to relocate to Nelson, Minnesota. 

Corrine was primarily a wife, mother, and home-maker. She did book-keeping for Lloyd’s Trucking Company and she worked at Herberger’s department store. Corrine then became a certified dairy tester, testing milk at many local farms. In later years she worked at the Glenwood Nursing Home. 

Corrine always enjoyed the Nelson kids and her children’s friends throughout adulthood. 

Corrine was recently diagnosed with health complications. She decided it was her time to go, and she did. She was placed on hospice on August 16, 2024. She passed away peacefully at her home with family by her side on August 22, 2024. She was 97 years old. 

Left to cherish her memory is one sister, Irene Hundtoft of Fargo, North Dakota; her six children: Jill Crooker of Park Ridge, Illinois; Charles (Dee) Persson of Menoken, North Dakota; Joyce Wilson of St. Cloud, Minnesota; Phyllis (David) Brandt of Burnsville, Minnesota; Lolly (LeRay) Stratton of Underwood, Minnesota; Morris (Julie) Persson of Rapid City, South Dakota; and a bonus son, Robert (Tina) Erickson of Paynesville, Minnesota. 

She is survived and very loved by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Lloyd; her parents Oscar and Ruth; and her siblings Bradley, Ron, Jeanette, and Gloria as well as many other relatives and friends. 

We are fortunate to have had her so active in our lives for 97 years. Still sharp as a tack, she loved to shop, go out to lunch or coffee, and she was living in her own home. She even went camping a few years ago! She was a very strong woman and was a good and faithful servant of God. 

We would like to especially thank the nurses and caregivers from Knute Nelson Hospice. They were very loving, helpful, and so special to us!