Beulah I. Grotegut

Beulah I. Grotegut, age 93, of Albert Lea, MN and formerly of Decorah, IA, died Thursday, February 10, 2011 at New Richland Care Center in New Richland, MN. Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, February 12, 2011 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah with Rev. David H. Andreae officiating. Burial will be in Big Canoe Lutheran Cemetery in rural Decorah. Visitation will begin at 12:00 Noon Saturday February 12 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah. Beulah Iola Grotegut was born February 5, 1918 to Herman and Josephine (Kittelson) Hendrickson on a homestead near Cando, North Dakota. She was baptized in her home and later confirmed at Hesper Lutheran Church in Hesper, Iowa near her family’s farm. She attended country school there through the 8th grade and high school in Mabel, Minnesota. Tragedy struck her family in 1937 when her brother Glenwyn was killed in a farming accident and her mother died in 1938. She moved to Decorah, Iowa with her father and worked at a factory supporting World War II efforts and later for McMasters and Headington optometry office. She was united in marriage to Calvin H. Grotegut on February 18, 1951 at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, Iowa. This union was blessed with one daughter Brenda. After their marriage, they farmed in rural Burr Oak, Iowa until 1956 when they moved to Decorah. Beulah worked for Montgomery Ward and later Decorah Community Schools as a school food service worker. Her organizational skills led her to a position as supervisor for the school district’s hot lunch program from which she retired in 1983. Beulah and Cal moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota in April, 1994 to enjoy closeness to family. After celebrating 50 years of marriage, Cal passed away September 12, 2001. Beulah continued living in their home until January, 2011 when she moved to the New Richland Care Center, New Richland, Minnesota. Beulah had been a member of Big Canoe Lutheran Church and First Lutheran Church in the Decorah area, and currently was a member of First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. In years of health she enjoyed sewing, needlework, rosemaling, genealogy, auctions, gardening, canning and baking. In later years she loved reading, caring for her cat, and spending time with family. Beulah is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and David Van Fossen and one grandson, Matthew Van Fossen, all of Albert Lea, MN, and by several cousins. She was also preceded in death by her father in 1980.