Gertrude Larsen

Gertrude Larsen, 91, Bismarck, died October 15, 2006, at a Bismarck hospital. Funeral services will be Friday at 1:00 PM at First Lutheran Church in Bismarck with Rev. Allen Wagner officiating. Burial will be at Mandan Union Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday from 12:00 - 9:00 PM at Eastgate Funeral Service and will continue Friday one hour prior to the service at the church. Gertrude was born on March 24, 1915, on the family homestead south of Beulah. She was the daughter of Alexander and Emilie Shumaier Oster. She attended school in rural Beulah. Gertrude was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Beulah, sang in the church choir, and took part in the church's youth group activities. Gertrude attended Capital Commercial College in Bismarck. She also took piano and voice lessons at Belle Mehus Music Conservatory for one year. She married Donald J. Larsen in 1940 at First Lutheran Church in Bismarck. They made their home in Bismarck and later moved to Mandan on the west side of the Missouri River. Donald died in 1992. Gertrude loved nature and the outdoors. She was a member of the Bismarck-Mandan Bird Club. She enjoyed the many varieties of birds that came to her feeders in her backyard. Gertrude was also a member of the Bismarck-Mandan Garden Club. She enjoyed working in her flower garden. She raised some of her flowers from seed, started indoors early and planted outdoors later. Gertrude especially enjoyed arranging flowers from her garden in bouquets that she would place around her house to enjoy. Gertrude worked with her husband at the Capital Theater which the family ran. After retirement, she and her husband enjoyed traveling and visiting their children. Traveling by car, they visited all 48 states and parts of Canada. They also went to Europe and spent three weeks visiting six countries and relatives in Denmark. Gertrude also visited the birthplace of her father's family in Germany. She is survived by her three sons and one daughter-in-law, Larry of Mandan, Richard "Dick" and Kathy of Portland, Oregon, and Timothy "Tim" of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Donald; one infant brother; and two sisters, Clara Pauline Oster and Antonia Seibel.

Gertrude Larsen

March 24, 1915 - October 15, 2006