Lonnie Drussell

Lonnie Drussell Lonnie (LaVerna) Mary Haas was born on a farm in Swanville, MN on October 23rd, 1924 to Paul Haas & Mary Haas. She was welcomed into the world by her siblings Paul, Dorothy, Elmer & Loren. When Lonnie was 2 years old, a baby sister, Helen May, joined the family. 3 months after Helen May's birth their Mother passed away from complications of childbirth. Life for a single father of 6 who had to run a farm proved too difficult. Families in the Garfield/Leaf Valley area took in most the children. Lonnie was not so lucky to stay close to her siblings and was sent to live in Wisconsin with her mother's sister. Lonnie moved in with the Jarchow family, which already had 5 other mouths to feed. Her early childhood years were difficult and she had minimal contact with her other brothers & sisters. At the age of 10 a family in Leaf Valley offered to take Lonnie in. She went to live with the Froemming family which consisted of William & Minnie and their 3 children, Elroy, Lloyd and Adeline. During this time she became family with the Froemming's and finally got to know her brothers and sisters. She went to school in Leaf Valley until the 8th grade. When Lonnie was approx. 18 she traveled to Jacksonville, Florida to live with her older brother Paul, who was in the Navy. While working at a Jacksonville clothing store she met her new best girlfriend, Stoney. It was Stoney who gave LaVerna her new name ?Lonnie?. They moved to Miami for fun and then moved to Stoney's hometown, Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, Lonnie met and married Mickey Holmes. They moved to Alexandria and had two children, Holly and Greg. She & Mickey ran the Corner bar for a while. After a few difficult years she divorced Mickey and opened a luncheon restaurant. In 1952 she married Charles (Chic) Haanen and moved with Holly and Greg into a house on 1011 Elm st. in Alexandria. Chic adopted Holly and Greg into the Haanen family and in 1953 added Rodney to the family. She worked at Olsen's Red Owl super market 20 years where she eventually became a department manager. Chic was a member of the Alexandria Fire Dept. and Lonnie was involved in the Ladies auxiliary. She especially like spending the two weeks at the Fireman's Camp on Lake Latoka with her family and friends. In 1973 she became a widow when Chic died of lung cancer at age 60. She continued to work at Red Owl and helping her children as they left home. In 1981 she became re-acquainted with an old friend, Earl Drussell, who also had lost a spouse several years earlier. They were married on November 1982 and had a bond not many people see. With the merging of the two grown families, which included Earl's sons Clyde, John and Bill, Lonnie continued to show her kindness and commitment to keep the expanded family close. She was a very loving Grandmother and Great Grandmother to all the offspring of her six children. Sadly in 1997 her soul mate Earl passed away. She continued her years being the very best mother to her children and grand & great grandchildren. She loved her gardening and always had the most beautiful flowers and vegetables. Another passion she had was playing bridge with many of her close friends. She was always healthy up until the last few years when her heart became weak and in Dec. of 2007 we discovered she had Myloma, a bone type cancer. Even with the pain of the cancer and it's treatment she kept her courage, dignity and never complained. The continued cancer treatments did push the Myloma into significant remission which gave her the time and strength so she was able meet & hold her newborn Great grandson, Caleb and great granddaughter, Sierra at Thanksgiving last year. In the end though, the 84 year old heart could not go on. Even with her lack of a close family in her early years, she was able to show so much love and kindness to all she came in contact with. We are all sad that time with our Mom and friend had to end but we are so blessed to have had the time we did with her. She is now free of pain and is with her Mother, her family and with our Lord, Jesus Christ. She was preceded in death by her Parents, brothers Elmer, Loren & Paul Haas and sister Helen May. She is survived by her sister Dorothy Schultz, Daughter Holly Haanen of Alex, Sons, Greg (Gayle)Haanen, Rodney (Mary Jane) Haanen, Clyde ( Liz) Horlick, stepson's John Drussell, Bill (Linda) Drussell & 16 Grand children, 15 Great Grandchildren. A funeral service will be held on Friday, March 6, 2009 at Zion Lutheran Church at 11:30AM in Alexandria with the Reverend David Hinz officiating. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Interment will be in the Kinkead Cemetery.