Funeral services for Margaret A. Nerad, age 88, of Glenville will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 10, at First Lutheran Church in Glenville. The Rev. Mark Wendland will officiate.

Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery.

Visitation is from 5 – 7 p.m. today at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home and one hour prior to the services at the church.

Margaret died Monday, May 6, 2002, at Albert Lea Good Samaritan Center.

Margaret A. Nerad was born Dec. 18, 1913, on a farm south of Hayward to Casper and Frances (Belshan) Kycek.

She attended District #35 grade school and Glenville High School until she was forced to drop out of school because of scarlet fever.

Margaret worked on the farm until 1934 when she married Frank Nerad and they settled near Myrtle.

When her mother died later that year, the couple moved back to the family farm to care for her eight younger brothers and sisters.

In 1950, Margaret and her family moved to Myrtle.

During her 50 years at Myrtle, she worked at Munsingwear in Albert Lea, the Myrtle Locker, the Myrtle Elementary School as a janitor and substitute cook, the Myrtle Pizza Factory, and Land-O-Lakes in Albert Lea.

Margaret enjoyed gardening and raising chickens, ducks, and geese. She canned and processed food, sewed her children’s clothes, worked in the fields, and milked and took care of the separator. Margaret was known for her excellent cooking and baking skills and her table included favorite Czech specialties.

Margaret was a member of the Mother’s Club in District #35.

She was also a member of WFLA Lodge #44 near Myrtle where she sang with a group of women and danced the Besada (a Czech folkdance) with her family and friends.

She also doubled as Santa Claus when no one else was willing to play the role.

Margaret was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Glenville.

Survivors include her daughters Marcella Nelson and husband Lowell of Glenville and Ann Marie Day and husband Richard of Bemidji; six grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.

To the latter two generations she was known as “Babi.”

She is also survived by a sister, Elsie Pacovsky and husband Joe of Glenville and a brother, Casper Leland Kycek of Hayward.

Margaret was preceded in death by her husband Frank, her parents, infant sister Frances and sister Mary and her brothers Frank, Victor, Richard, Ernest, and Leonard.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers contributions to First Lutheran Church in Glenville.