Eunice K. Warren

Eunice Kathleen Golberg Warren, 91, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, transitioned to heaven Sunday, June 1, 2014. She was angel to a wide circle of friends and patients, the nurse with the beauty of a star, simply the one you loved to be with. Her strong, loving character was crafted by the rock-solid Norwegian farm family values she received from her wonderful parents, George and Margaret (Berg) Golberg in Rock Dell Township. Eunice was the granddaughter of the first pioneer child born in Olmsted County (Ole Tollefson, 1854).

Eunice's life on the farm was joy filled with siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and farm hands. She fell in love with nature (and animals) by working and living outside in it (and with them). Her childhood was filled with the work of planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops, and tending animals. Horses were used for field work until she was 12, when her dad bought a tractor, which Eunice drove during the seasons of farm work. Dairy cows, horses, dogs, chickens, kittens and goats were dear friends with first names.  Her pie making skills began at age eight as she cranked out daily pies for threshing crews. Along with her brother and younger sisters, she trod the mile to their one room, "Bergan School District 91."

Eunice loved her early Christmas's as the fragrance of krumkake, fattigmund and lefse making filled the house. On Christmas Eve she helped her dad give extra rations to the animals. She loved skiing down the hill from the barn, ice skating on ponds, and going to the "Outdoor Theater" in Rock Dell where she first encountered "Ma and Pa Kettle" and other Hollywood westerns. When she was 15, she moved to Rochester to work for her room and board while attending high school (Class of 1941). Her bright trajectory took her far and wide, first to Wild Horse, Colo., to work on her uncle's ranch, where she also loved to trek to the mountains to camp and fish. Her return to Minnesota in late November 1941 on the back of her brother's motorcycle, ice storms and all, was just another episode in the true grit and can-do-anything life of Eunice.

Her dream of becoming a nurse was postponed by constraints of cost and circumstance, and her first job was at Rochester State Hospital. In 1943, just shy of turning 21, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy (W.A.V.E.S.) and headed for boot camp at Hunter College in New York. From there she made the trek by train to the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps School in San Diego for hospital training. Later posts included Jacksonville, Fla., and Hutchinson, Kan., before returning to the family farm with first baby in tow, while her husband, Ed Warren, served in the U.S. Navy in Japan. She spent over 30 years working at Worrall and Methodist hospitals in Rochester, and at age 46 she fulfilled her lifelong dream to become a credentialed nurse, graduating number one in her nursing class, while mothering six children, the youngest just two years old.

Her children were her true North. Our house sang with her spirit, presence, and love. Her amazing meals, picnics and vacations were family centered. In her eyes, you were perfect as you were -absolutely loved no matter what. The one thing she hated to do was to say goodbye to her children. Tears of love poured as we came and went, drawn back by her enormous heart and tolerance for all of our wandering. The dogs she loved, six in all, were often her sole comfort as she said so many goodbyes.

Eunice loved her flower gardens. She baked bread, cookies and chocolate cake weekly. She sewed our clothes, our dolls' clothes, and our children's clothes. She was kind. She loved playing "500." She was rarely ill. She baked Christmas cookies at midnight after her nursing shifts, and made the best chocolate cake in the universe. She played the piano and cranked out waltzes and duets with her sisters and her kids. She taught us to make lefse. After she retired from nursing, she began to quilt. She made dozens of quilts with stitches so tiny they were invisible. She was loaded with common sense and smarts. She was the mother who put her kids first. She was tolerant. She was tough and strong, then soft and timid. She had a strong Lutheran, then Catholic faith. Eunice loved the simple life that the Jesuits recommend living. She grew a quiet wisdom within herself which imbued her children and grandchildren. Each of them embodies her spirit. Eunice was a good soul with a heart that was free and happy. So God inhabited there, and so did we.

In retirement, she shared with her best friend, Ann, a daily cocktail hour. If you were lucky, you joined them for the laughter and political commentary, but mostly for the joy that they brought to a room as they simply lived. And now, they are in a less harsh place, reaping the bounty of their endless good works, shining down on us. We can hear her laugh, feel her presence, and know that she is reunited with those she has lived without for so long.

Eunice was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Robert Golberg, sister, Marjorie Southwick, and son-in law, John Wood.

Left behind are Barry and Cindy Warren (Sherrills Ford, N.C.), Sr. Kathy Warren, OSF (Rochester), Mark and Jasmine Warren (Somerset, Va.), Wendy Wood and Steve Smith (Rochester), Robert and Kristi Warren (Eagle River, Alaska) and John and Lory Warren (Evergreen, Colo.); 13 grandchildren; one great-grandson; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Glennis Hood, Eunice's remaining and much loved sister resides in Phoenix, Ariz.

Visitation will be at River Park Chapel, Macken Funeral Home, Wednesday, June 4, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A prayer service will be held at 6:45 p.m.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. John the Evangelist Church, Thursday, June 5, at 10 a.m., with visitation an hour prior. Internment at Zion Cemetery at East St. Olaf Church, Rock Dell will follow later.

Memorials preferred to Sisters of St. Francis, Rochester, or East St. Olaf Church, Rock Dell.

Macken Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences are welcome at mackenfuneralhome.com.