The funeral service for Annette “Ann” Jessen Turner of New Richland will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Church of All Saints in New Richland. The Rev. Swami will officiate. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Friedrich Funeral Home, 217 W. Division St., New Richland and one hour before the service at the Church. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, followed by a luncheon at the Church’s dining hall.
Ann died peacefully at home, surrounded by the love of her family and husband on Saturday, Oct. 18, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 81.
She was born on Aug. 29, 1927, in Burlington, Iowa, the daughter of Vivian A. and Martha (Walker) Edwards. She graduated from Decorah High School in 1944 and attended Iowa State University where she met Ellis James “Jim” Jessen. They were married on Aug. 19, 1947, in Decorah, Iowa, and lived two years in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to a farm west of New Richland in 1950. To this union nine children were born: Geoffrey, Teresa, Janann, Vicki, James, Charles, Stacie, George and Julie. Jim died in 2003. On Feb. 18, 2005, in Bonita Springs, Fla., she married Richard Turner of Hannibal, Mo., with whom she had a chance meeting sixty years earlier. Their reunion and marriage was widely reported in newspapers across the U.S. at the time.
Ann was very involved in community affairs and served as President of American Legion Auxiliary for many years at Post 75, New Richland. Ann and Jim together were very involved in the Minnesota Land Improvement Contractors Association through much of the 80s and 90s.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Jim Jessen in 2003; and her daughter, Janann Cummings, in 2007
She is survived by her second husband, Richard Turner, her brother, Charles O. Edwards of Denver, Colo.; and her children: Jeff (Pat) Jessen of New Richland; Terri (Richard) Sullivan of Bonita Springs, Fla.; Vicki (Roger) Windfeldt of Eden Prairie; Chuck Jessen of Mill Valley, Calif.; Stacie (John) Nowak of Arvada, Colo.; George (Jayne) Jessen of Mason City, Iowa; Julie (Greg) Sticha of Eden Prairie; many grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial gifts can be made to the American Legion Auxiliary Post 75 and the Church of All Saints, both in New Richland.