Remembering the life of Rebecca M. Stephenson….
Memorial Services for Rebecca M. Stephenson, of Albert Lea, will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at Ascension Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. The Reverend Mark Boorsma will officiate. Interment will be alongside her husband at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN. Visitation with family will be from 4-7 p.m. on Monday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Albert Lea and one hour before the service at the church.
Becky died from complications of cancer on Friday, September 14, 2012 at Good Samaritan Center in Albert Lea. She was 84.
She was born on May 16, 1928, on the family farm in Waseca County, the daughter of Gerhard and Clara (Johnson) Hatle. She attended Sunday School at Hartland Lutheran Church and was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Richland, MN. Becky started school in rural Waseca District #77 and graduated from New Richland High School with the class of 1945. She attended business college in Mankato, MN.As a young woman she moved to Albert Lea and began working for Wilson and Co. She became one of the “Wilson Girls.” She met Charles F. Stephenson and they married on November 22, 1947. Charles was career military and Becky, as an Army wife, traveled with her husband caring for their three girls, Cynthia, Sandra and Gina. She so enjoyed the traveling, gatherings and socializing that military life afforded. They settled in Albert Lea in 1971. Becky had many interests; she volunteered at the Art Center, served as V.F.W. Auxiliary President, and was an active volunteer at the Eagle’s Club. She was a member of Ascension Lutheran Church.
Becky will be greatly missed by her family; three daughters: Cynthia Powell and Brad Root of Fort Wayne, IN, Sandra Stephenson of Albert Lea ,MN, and Gina (Shawn) Mitchell of Rochester, MN; grandchildren: Sarah (Brian) Busse and their children Zoe and Jackson of Fort Wayne, IN, Claire Mitchell of Rochester, MN; siblings: Elaine Johnson of New Richland, MN, Edith (John) Hanson of Washington State, Avis (Glenn) Wobschall of Waseca, MN and Ruth Strand of Albert Lea, MN, and many, many nieces and nephews; with special fondness for Kathy Kary of Albert Lea and her nephew Rodney (Carolyn) Hatle, of Owatonna, MN.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Charles, her siblings: Orvin Hatle and his wife Alice, Arnold Hatle in infancy, Evelyn and her husband Ray Foley, Wesley Hatle and his wife Edna, Herbert Hatle, brothers-in-law Lyle Strand and Lloyd Johnson.
Becky enjoyed life to the fullest and will be fondly remembered as a good person and a good friend!