Emma Martha Halverson

Emma Martha Halverson, 89, of Bemidji, Minnesota, passed away at Sanford Hospital on Monday, December 14, 2020.

Emma was born October 11, 1931, in Melrose, MN to Anton and Margaret (Ritzke) Niermann. She graduated from Sauk Centre High School and in 1951 married Vernon Halverson. They made their first home in Hackensack where they started their family and then moved to Sauk Centre where they lived until retirement in 1986. She was a self-taught woman, learning to sew her children’s clothes and also to crochet, knit, cross stitch and quilt. Emma was a fantastic cook. Every Friday the family remembers her baking bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies, bars, and pies. She spent many hours volunteering at church and caring for the elderly. For a couple of years, Emma worked as a Nursing Assistant. And still Emma had time to go ice skating with her children and taught them to play cards. Canasta, Five Hundred, and Hand and Foot were the ones most remembered.  Emma loved to dance the polkas and waltzes and taught her children to dance.

When Vernon retired and they moved to Laporte in 1986, Emma didn’t slow down. She volunteered with the Laporte American Legion Auxiliary, serving as President for 20 years.  She especially loved springtime, watching the hummingbirds at her feeders. As the grandchildren came and grew up, so the great-grandchildren entered the world. She had many, and she loved every one. Every Christmas all her children would receive care packages with five loaves of cinnamon leaf coffee cake. She was extremely proud of her children and always said they were different and unique. She loved to come up behind her family members and give them a hug … that’s what the grandchildren remember her for … her great hugs.

Emma was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Vernon, two sisters, and two brothers. She was the last of that generation in her family.  She will be greatly missed by her children Julia (Lawrence) Wallace of Bemidji, MN, Lolita Steinemann of Osakis MN, William (Edwina) of St. Paul MN, Howard (Naomi) of Beaver Creek OH, Gene (Rita) of Conway SC, Vincent (Lori) of Sioux Falls SD, and Kristine Lambertson (Richard Peipus) of Litchfield MN; 16 grandchildren, 32 great grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren. And she loved them all.

A private family funeral service will be held for Emma at the Walker Community Church, on Saturday, December 19, at 2:00pm. A time of visitation for family will begin at 1:00pm. Live viewing of the funeral can be accessed by going to YouTube.com and in the search bar “Community Church of Walker United Church of Christ.”  Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Walker.  Arrangements are being provided by Whispering Pines Funeral & Cremation Service, Walker, MN (www.whisperingpinesnorth.com)

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