Yvonne M. Wartner

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Yvonne Marjorie Wartner, was born on April 4, 1937 to Jacob and Mary (Persoon) Bakker in Tyler, Minnesota. As a child, she enjoyed helping her dad on the family farm near Tyler, Minnesota. She could often be found milking the cows and working with the crops, and also helped take care of her younger siblings. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Dionysius Catholic Church in Tyler. Yvonne would often talk about when, as a child, their family home burnt to the ground and they lived in the chicken coop until their new home was built. She attended country school for elementary and then Tyler High School, where she later graduated. On May 12, 1956 Yvonne married the love of her life, Donald Deane Wartner, and began helping as a full time animal and crop farmer. The couple lived in several cities throughout the state including Lake Benton, Tyler, Dundee, Starbuck, Glenwood, Clara City, and Morris. Their winters were spent in Alamo, Texas. Yvonne was always active and, on top of her full time work as a homemaker, mother, and dairy farmer, she held various jobs. She owned and operated a grocery store in Dundee, worked at the Lake Benton newspaper, and worked at the Farm Service Agency/ACS in Ivanhoe and Glenwood, Minnesota. On July 9, 2023, after a fall, Yvonne passed away unexpectedly while at CentraCare Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota at the age of 86 years, 3 months, and 5 days.
Yvonne was an active member of St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Lake Benton, involved in the ladies group and the Rosary Society. She was also a part of a card club in Texas. She was full of life and shared her many hobbies and interests with her friends and family. She was uniquely gifted at helping people feel welcome and comfortable. She never met a stranger and was always kind, compassionate, and honest. She loved catching people off guard with quick, witty comments. She was very hospitable and welcoming as well, greeting everyone that came to her door with fresh baked food. She loved to laugh and delighted in sharing stories of how proud she was of her family. She had a great memory and was an excellent resource, remembering birthdays, anniversaries, and many other important details about the people in her life. She also had a mind for numbers and could often solve problems in her head. Time spent with family was a priority for Yvonne, and she loved to share her many interests and passions including gardening, camping, baking, dancing, canning, jigsaw puzzles, jewelry, shoes, watches, purses, pink lipstick, music jams, and shopping flea markets for a bargain. Yvonne enjoyed many trips with family and friends, from the 25 years as a snowbird in Alamo, Texas, to her trip in 2022 with her siblings to see family on the East Coast, to short trips to the lake, she loved it all. She is fondly remembered by her family as a wonderful mother and grandmother who demonstrated and amazing love, warmth, compassion, and kindness for all who knew her.
Left to cherish Yvonne's memory are her husband, Donald Wartner of Lake Benton, Minnesota; children Mike (Charlotte) Wartner of Hancock, Minnesota, Doug (Sharon) Wartner of Morris, Minnesota, and Jackie (Rick) Wandersee of Clara City, Minnesota; 13 grandchildren Austin, Jennie, Pennie, Krisie, Shannon, Jesse, Becky, Dean, Mariah, Katelyn, Skylar, Kinslee, and Nora; 24 great-grandchildren, Payton, Avery, Grant, Emma, Olivia, Easton, Kadin, Kendal, Josiah, Karter, Jacob, Justin, Lily, Parker, Ada, Dominic, Eliot, Maiya, Miguel, Jaxen, Eliana, Delva Joy, Emery, and Camille; siblings, Joyce Dass of Cary, North Carolina, Ellen Bakker of Payson, Arizona, James Bakker of Worthington, Minnesota, Linda Guild of Mansfield, Ohio, Catherine (Mike) Davis of Park Rapids, Minnesota, Bonnie (Dave) Gruis of Melvin, Iowa, Barbara Curtis of Boulder City, Nevada; and many wonderful nephews, nieces, and great friends including her dog Cocoa. She was preceded in death by her parents, Jacob and Mary Bakker; parents-in-law John and Rachel; grandson Josiah; siblings Jean and Jerry; sister-in-law JoAnn, brothers-in-law Arnold Dass and Wayne Curtis; and niece Stacy Vanderwerf.
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