Audriene (Vanden Heuvel) Zelenski, 83, died peacefully on January 12, 2018 at St Mary’s Hospital.
Audriene was born on July 9, 1934 in Ellendale, MN to the late Harold and Reta (nee Nelson) Bunnell. She attended country school and graduated from Ellendale High School.
After High School, Audriene worked at Federated Mutual Insurance Co. in Owatonna, MN.
She married Henry (Bud) Vanden Heuvel on May 23, 1954 in Ellendale. They lived in Austin, MN and she worked part time at J.C. Penney. She also worked for the Austin Schools as a secretary for 23 years.
After her retirement, and death of her husband in 1994, she moved to Rochester. She joined the Widowed Person Service, where she made many friends and met Richard (Dick) Zelenski. Audriene and Dick were married on May 6, 2000 at St Pius X church in Rochester.
Audriene and Dick enjoyed a number of years travelling on bus trips throughout the United States and on cruise ships around the world.
Audriene was a member of Christ United Methodist Church. She enjoyed her family, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She also enjoyed cross stitching, quilting, and knitting. She knitted more than 300 prayer shawls for the St Marys Hospital Volunteer program.
She is survived by her husband Dick; children Craig Vanden Heuvel and Heidi (Ray) Dunfee; grandchildren Nate (Heather) Dunfee and Samantha Dunfee; and great grandchildren Jack and Camryn Dunfee.
Survivors include her step-children; Margie (Ward) Lane, Cathy Zelenski, Barbara (Rich) Dettinger, and Andy (Jenn) Yara-Zelenski; and step-grandchildren Steven, Thomas, and David Lane; Erica, Tori, Tim, and Kylie Dettinger; and Jacob Yara-Zelenski.
She also leaves many nieces, nephews, cousins, and numerous friends.
Audriene was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Henry Vanden Heuvel, one daughter, Sheila, and a sister and a brother.
The family would like to thank the staff at the Memory Care Unit at River Bend, the Mayo Hospice team, the staff on St Marys Mary Brigh 5E, and the Palliative Care team at Mayo Clinic for the care received.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic.
Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, January 17th at the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home, and one hour prior to the Service on Thursday. A Memorial Service will be at 11 a.m Thursday, January 18th at the funeral home.
Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com