Elna Thuesen

Elna Thuesen, age 100, of Solvang, California and formerly of Newell, Iowa, passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of November 23, 2004 at the Solvang Lutheran Retirement Home.

Memorial Services will be held at Nain Lutheran Church in Newell, Iowa on Saturday, December 11, 2004 at 1:00 p.m. Burial will be in the Newell Cemetery. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Newell is assisting with the arrangements.

She was born in Newell, Iowa to Knud and Anne (Christiansen) Thuesen, the youngest of five children. Her brothers and sisters were Dora Jensen, Jenny Husted, Harold Thuesen and Ernest Thuesen, all deceased.

She was baptized and confirmed in the Nain Lutheran Church in Newell, Iowa

Elna received her education in Newell, Iowa graduating from the Newell High School in 1923 and also attended Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1926 she moved to California and made Santa Barbara her home, which has always had a special place in her heart. In 1984 she moved to Solvang Lutheran Retirement Home in Solvang, California.

In May of this year, Elna celebrated her 100th birthday and reminisced with family and friends about the many adventures of her life.

She always enjoyed traveling. Locally, she traversed San Marcos Pass on a one speed bicycle. In 1936 she took a four-month bicycle trip with her girlfriend, Elna Larsen, to Denmark and Germany and they covered over 700 miles. She traveled all around the United States by Greyhound Bus.

Elna camped often in the California Sierras and made the National Geographic magazine when she attended a ranger talk in Yosemite. She enjoyed doing volunteer work and participated in many meaningful causes throughout her life.

Many of her working years were spent in retail as well as doing manufacturing for the war effort during World War II.

She will be remembered by nieces and nephews Merlyn Jensen of Gowrie, Eula Petersen of Newell, Elva Jorgensen of Santa Barbara, CA, Ardis Tuttle of Newell and Miriam Rohlfsen of Des Moines, grand nieces and nephews, great-grand nieces and nephews and great, great-grand nieces and nephews and many friends. Two nephews, Virgil Jensen and Darrell Jensen, are deceased.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Solvang Lutheran Home in Solvang, California; to Nain Lutheran Church in Newell, Iowa; and to Direct Relief International.