Funeral service for Nora C. Hendrickson, of Albert Lea will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. The Rev. James Kassera and the Rev. Darryl Bakke will officiate. Private interment will be in the Hartland Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Online condolences are welcome at www.bayviewfuneral.com.

Nora died peacefully at her home on Monday, May 13, 2013, just shy of her 107th birthday.

Nora was born on July 9, 1906, to Ole and Martha Rugroden. In 1924, she graduated from Freeborn High School and knowing that she had a passion for teaching, attended Albert Lea Normal School. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in 1963 from Mankato State College. Teaching was Nora’s calling and she began teaching country school in District No. 9 and later in Districts No. 47 and No. 102. She began teaching first grade in the Albert Lea schools in 1958, spending one year at Hawthorne Elementary and 15 years at the newly-constructed Halvorson Elementary School. Nora’s mental capacity was astonishing and until the end of her life, she could remember the names of countless students as well as those who were in her Sunday school classes.

Nora married Ernest Hendrickson on Nov. 10, 1929, and they farmed for several years in Freeborn County prior to moving to Albert Lea in 1940.

Highlights of her life were a trip to Alaska with Ernest in the early ’70s and a trip to Norway with two of her granddaughters when she was 82 years of age. Nora’s flower and vegetable gardens were legendary and she actively pursued gardening until age 95. She was a quilter, a skillful seamstress and a gracious hostess who always had the coffee pot on along with plates of homemade cookies. Nora was also interested in reading, playing Scrabble and cheering on the Minnesota Twins.

Survivors include her daughters, Marilyn Jensen of Broomfield, Colo., and Darlene Lee of Mankato; grandchildren, Judy (Kevin) Patterson, Nancy (Steve) Smith, Susan (Billy) Mathews, Karen (Verlan) Grigsby, Kristine (Richard) Nordin, Rebecca (Paul) Carpenter and Daniel (Susan) Lee; great-grandchildren, Adam and Lindsay Smith, Alec Mathews, Mae, Roy and John Grigsby, Andrew, Amalia and Aleksander Nordin and Laura and Eric Carpenter.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest; siblings, Stella, Palma, Myrtle, Clara, Elsie and Maynard; and sons-in-law, Roy Jensen and Phillip Lee.

The family wishes to thank the caring and dedicated staff of Oak Park Place, her home of the past eight years. Thanks also to Dr. Vocal for his conscientious medical care. Special thanks to Mary and Irv Zenk for their care and devotion over the years. The family also wants to thank her former students, neighbors, friends and pastors who regularly stopped by to share coffee and stories.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Hartland Cemetery Association, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church or the charity of the donor’s preference.

Blessed be the memory of Nora Christine Hendrickson.