Eunice Stoen

Eunice C. Stoen, age 92, of Decorah, Iowa, died Tuesday evening, December 25, 2018 at Aase Haugen Senior Services in Decorah.  Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 19, 2019 at Big Canoe Lutheran Church in rural Decorah, with the Rev. Kurt Bockoven officiating. Inurnment will be in Big Canoe Lutheran Cemetery.        Visitation will be from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 18 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah, and on Saturday beginning at 10:15 a.m. at Big Canoe Lutheran Church. Eunice C. (Hexom) Stoen was born on January 10, 1926 in Virginia, Minnesota, the daughter of Reverend William T. Hexom and Charlotte (Larson) Hexom.  The family eventually moved to Pleasant Township of Winneshiek County, rural Decorah in Northeast Iowa, where Pastor Hexom served at Big Canoe Lutheran Church for many years.  Eunice grew up in the parsonage of Big Canoe Lutheran Church, called Borgen (Castle on the Hill, in Norwegian). She was confirmed at Big Canoe Lutheran Church. Eunice graduated from Decorah High School with the Class of 1943. Eunice was united in marriage to Wilbur Carsten Stoen on August 29, 1948 at Big Canoe Lutheran Church. The wedding ceremony was performed by her father, Rev. William Hexom. This union was blessed with two children, Barbara and William. Wilbur was a dairy farmer for many years and Eunice assisted in everything on the farm, and was also the bookkeeper. Eunice was a very accomplished seamstress and knitter.  She wrote 3 cookbooks and a book about her father. The book about Rev. Hexom by mom, Mom was one of the few people who could read her dad's shorthand, the book features some of his sermons that still hold true now in 2019.  We will have these books available for those who are interested. She was very active in the Big Canoe Lutheran Church, the ALCW, choir, Priscilla Circle, and she created a group of young singers call the Jr. Lutherans. Luther College presented her the Distinguished Service Award in 1996. She also represented Iowa on the Mall in Washington, D.C. and then again at the Iowa State Fair for the sesquicentennial. She enjoyed the Luther Women’s Club, singing in the Northern Lights, and being in the Luren Auxiliary. She always enjoyed having people up to the farm for coffee, lunch, or dinner. Many friendships developed from those in the Scandinavian Institute of American Studies visiting the farmstead, along with relatives from Norway. Those friendships and contacts made her trips to Norway even more special. Every Halloween you could find her in her Minnie Mouse costume!  She was one of the 1000 cooks featured as honorary editors in Taste of Home magazine.  She wrote an article about how to write and organize a cookbook that helped a publishing company in Waverly, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. William and Charlotte Hexom; her father- and mother-in-law, Knut and Mildred Stoen; her husband Wilbur on January 26, 2017; one sister, Audrey (Erling) Jordahl; two brothers, David (Ann) Hexom and Charles (Arlys) Hexom; two sisters-in-law, Betty (Norman) Thies and Norma (Max) Shaffer; and one brother-in-law, Eugene Stoen. Eunice is survived by her daughter Barbara (Don) Dowd of Cedar Falls, Iowa; her son William Stoen of Decorah; three granddaughters and six great-grandchildren: Shannon (Dayle) Jones, Olivia and Emma, of Littleton, CO, Melissa (Paul) Boeke, Charlotte and Georgia, of Marion, Iowa, and Molly (Neil) Mulholland, Norah and Declan, of Robins, Iowa; one sister, Connie Bolson and one brother, Paul Hexom of Decorah. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Big Canoe Lutheran Church, 1381 Big Canoe Road, Decorah, IA 52101.