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| Gina Joraanstad Ledahl |
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Birth Date: |
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August 26, 1912 |
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Place of Birth: |
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Divide County, North Dakota |
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Date Departed: |
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June 4, 2010 |
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Resided: |
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Williston, North Dakota |
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Age: |
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97 |
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Gina (Joraanstad) Ledahl, 97, a longtime Williston resident since 1944, passed away Friday afternoon, June 4, 2010, at the Bethel Lutheran Home in Williston.
Gina was born August 26, 1912 to Ole and Sarah (Amundstad) Joraanstad, Norwegian immigrants who homesteaded near Noonan, North Dakota. From the time she was a little girl, she knew she wanted to be a teacher. She often lined up her four siblings in the loft in the barn to play school. Recognizing how much she loved school, her parents sent her to boarding school at Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo. She graduated as valedictorian at age 17.
The 1929 stock market crash ended her plans to attend Augsburg College in Minneapolis, and instead she earned a teaching degree from Minot Teachers College. She taught several years in country schools in the Noonan area. On July 2, 1939, she married Linder Ledahl of Noonan. They moved to Williston in 1944.
Gina taught elementary school for 29 years, 20 of which were at Lewis & Clark School in Williston. While at Lewis & Clark, she returned to college to finish her bachelor’s degree, studying in evening classes at the college in Williston and spending summers at Minot. One year she was named Teacher of the Year in Williston.
While living at Bethel Lutheran Home, she particularly enjoyed visits from former students. When summing up her life, she always mentioned she was fortunate to have loved teaching so much because it gave her the opportunity to serve. Teaching children was her passion.
An active member of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church from the 1940s, she sang and played piano and worked with Ladies Aid and Circle. Later, she helped to start Light of Christ Lutheran Church, and the church named her Mother of the Year in 1999.
She belonged to Women of Life, Women’s Civic League, and the Retired Teachers’ Association. For several years, she served on the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army. She was also a member of the Williston Community Library Board.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Linder, who died in 1993, and by all her siblings.
She is survived by her three daughters, Sara Friedrichsmeyer of Cincinnati, Ohio; Sandra Hughes of Polson, Montana; and Loreen Leo of Seattle, WA; six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Since she was a teacher who loved learning her entire life, her family would appreciate that memorials go to the Williston Community Library or the Williston Coyote Foundation.
The Everson Funeral Home of Williston is caring for the family.
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Her funeral will be celebrated Tuesday afternoon, June 8, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. at Light of Christ Lutheran Church in Williston. Rev. Gary D. Benson will officiate.
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Friends may also call at the Everson Funeral Home of Williston Tuesday morning, from 9:00 a.m. until noon, and at the church Tuesday for the hour preceding the funeral.
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Interment will follow in the Riverview Cemetery.
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